


Blood Bank

by Kamine



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Hey ya girl kami wrote something, I Tried, I can't be bothered with tags, I can't think of chapter names for shit, Leniver, M/M, Vampire Bites, Vampires, Yaoi, everyone is 16+, olilen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:08:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24540586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamine/pseuds/Kamine
Summary: I’ll fix this laterIgnore for now
Relationships: Hatsune Miku & Kagamine Rin, Hatsune Miku/Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len & OLIVER, Kagamine Len/OLIVER
Comments: 43
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

“Len!”

“What?” I responded, still half-asleep.

“Miku’s coming round to hang out in a bit so wake up, Banana Bitch.”

Wait, Miku? Oh god, why? She’s just gonna try to cling to me and ask me out again like she always does. I’ve told her that I’m gay and that I’m not interested probably thousands of times. Goddamit today’s gonna suck.

“I was gonna wake up in a bit, you orange whore. You didn’t have to shout through the goddamn door!”

“You do know you’re doing the same right now?”

“Yeah, I just thought I needed to point it out to your dumb ass.”

“Ugh, fuck you, Len. Just wake up.”

After rolling over and checking my phone, I dragged my sleepy ass out of bed, showered and changed into my usual shorts and T-shirt. I then grabbed my toothbrush and started to brush my two sharp pointed fangs. They gleamed brightly like the moon.

“Why does Mum even make me brush my fangs every day?” I mumbled to myself as I simultaneously brushed my teeth and scrolled through my messages, “They’re just gonna get bloody again when I feed so what’s the point?”

I looked down to see that I dropped toothpaste all over my phone.

I sighed.

The familiar dry, bitter feeling of thirst crept into my mouth as I pocketed my phone, ready to go downstairs.

“I really need to stop talking to myself so much. I wonder who’s ready to feed. I hope it’s someone good.”

***

“Mum, I’m thirsty,” I shouted as I trudged down the stairs, still not fully awake, “who’s ready to feed?”

“Oh, good morning Len, you’re finally awake I see.” My mum replied, unfazed.

My mum wasn’t that special. (Well… if you ignore the fact that she and my entire family are vampires.) She was just like any other housewife, kind, caring and quite pretty. Her long honey-coloured curls bounced as she moved, and her eyes shone a beautiful emerald hue. It’s surprising how a woman like her could give birth to the nightmare that is my twin sister Rin.

“Your father caught a new human last night to add to the Blood Bank; you could be the first to taste him if you want.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, so if he’s poisonous he kills me and not you?”

“I’m sure he’s not sweetie,” she said, giggling, “Follow me and I’ll show him to you.”

She led me down to the basement of our house which we call the Blood Bank. It was a rectangular concrete room filled with humans used for feeding. I must admit it wasn’t the cleanest of places -the floor normally being covered in a mixture of dried blood and puddles of god knows what- but we only went down there for meals, so it didn’t really matter. And before you ask, no, I have absolutely no clue whether the Blood Bank is safe for humans and to be honest I don’t care. Humans are just objects so why should I?

“There he is.”

Before my eyes was a small boy standing in the middle of the room. He had short, messy hair the same colour as my own with long bangs covering his face. He looked barely my age and was visibly petrified. He stuck out like a sore thumb because bandages were wrapped around various places on his body, including half his face. The uncovered eye was amber coloured like syrup, but his pupil had tensed with fear. Not to mention, he was immensely younger than the other feeders we had. The rest of them were middle aged men. He was wearing a sailor outfit that was ripped, torn and discoloured. Overall, he looked like he had been through some shit.

Why does he look kinda cute?

Wait, no. Stop it Len. Just because you’re a gay 14-year-old doesn’t mean you have to go gaga over every boy your age. Plus, he’s a human. Humans only exist for us to feed off them. They’re practically objects, so stop it.

I dusted the concrete from my feet. “Did you do that to him?” I questioned, referring to the bandages.

“No. Apparently your father found him like that. Go on. Don’t be shy sweetie.” My mum’s soft voice echoed behind me.

I slowly approached him with my eyes starting to gleam a brilliant red and my fangs bared. He didn’t even try to run. He just flinched slightly as my teeth punctured and sank into his porcelain white flesh. His blood was sweet. Like nothing I had ever tasted before. It was so fruity, juicy and wonderful that I couldn’t stop sucking. Absolute bliss it was. So creamy as it filled my mouth and painted my insides.

But alas, all good things must come to an end. His eye started to drift closed and his knees started to buckle. I pulled away, leaving two bite marks and a puddle of blood and saliva on his smooth neck, but not before I had licked his neck hungrily, trying to lap up every last drop of his blood. He collapsed on the concrete by my feet, unconscious.

I glanced down at the floor and looked at him; My saliva had created a large glistening patch on the side of his neck. Pangs of guilt stabbed me in the chest almost immediately after I snapped out of my dazed thirst.

Was this a good idea?

Was he too young?

Should I have fed off him?

My mum’s soft voice behind me snapped me back to reality.

“My, my, someone’s thirsty.”

I stuttered, “H- He’s just really tasty, that’s all.”

“Glad you enjoyed him.”

A shrill voice suddenly erupted from upstairs.

“LEN, MIKU’S HERE SO GET YOUR FAT ASS OVER HERE!”

Oh yeah, today’s gonna suck…


	2. Chapter 2

**Oliver Pov**

I opened my eyes to the dusty grey concrete beneath me. Immediately I was met with a flood of pain and the unmistakable metallic taste of blood.

I rolled over onto my side and stretched out my aching limbs, my joints clicking in the process. 

“Where am I?” I muttered to myself as I put a hand to my cheek, feeling the scrapes that decorated it. My hand came away bloody.

I panicked and poked at my left eye. Thankfully, the bandages were still intact and didn’t dye my hand red.

“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about that quite yet… But what just happened?”

I sat up onto my knees and winced as I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my neck. I felt two bruised holes, both leaking blood and saliva that dripped down my now damp neck.

My eyes widened in shock. “Vampires…?”

I got bit by vampires?

Still dazed, I looked around the room I was sitting in. Rough grey walls surrounded me from all angles, no window in sight. The room was completely barren, except for a stone staircase in the corner and about ten middle aged men collapsed on the floor.

Have I been kidnapped by vampires?

I tried to shift round to talk to one of them but hesitated as I felt a dampness beneath me. Glancing down, I noticed a puddle; A puddle that had seeped into my shorts. 

I quickly moved to a different part of the floor.

“How long was I out?” I mumbled under my breath, slightly disgusted.

I turned to one of the unconscious men beside me. I needed answers.

“Urmm… hi?” I asked.

No response.

“Where are we?”

Still no response.

“Hello?”

His eyes remained firmly shut so I gave up and left him alone.

“Right then, I guess I’m gonna have to figure this out myself. What do I remember?” I shut my eyes and racked my brain, trying to remember anything I could. After a little while, it finally came to me.

There was this boy around my age with blond hair, and he bit me.

He came down those stairs, walked up to me and bit me. I probably passed out after that.

There was also the one I think I saw yesterday. I think he was the one that brought me here. He looked like the one that bit me, but older.

Is this a family?

**…**

So, I’m being held hostage by a family vampires?

Just great.

Wonderful.

Just how I wanted to spend my Saturday and probably the rest of my life.

I don’t even know how many of them there are; There could be hundreds around here.

“I guess we just have to survive down here together, James.” I mumbled, looking down at James.

But James wasn’t there.

I panicked “James?”

“James!”

“James?!”

Where could he be?!

“Calm yourself Ollie, he’s probably safe at home.” I chanted to myself, my eyes starting to well up with tears.

I started to feel sick and dizzy, like I was about to throw up, but just as I was about to, I looked up at the stairs.

There was a figure.

It was the boy who bit me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me like 15 minutes to find the word 'seeped'. I first thought it was sept (scept? idk) and spent ages trying to google how to spell it, but then I discovered 'sept' isn't a word. I then googled 'seep past tense' and found the word seeped. I sat with my laptop for a good 5 minutes processing in my brain that 'sept' isn't a word that exists and I had made it up. I'm still very confused that sept isn't a word. I was convinced it was the past tense but I guess not.
> 
> Conclusion: I can't fucking english.


	3. Chapter 3

**Len Pov**

“LEEENNNN!!!”

Oh god, the teal twin-tailed girl was in my house. Why does Rin even like her?

“Hi Miku.” I said cautiously as I tried to back my way up the stairs and escape my impending doom.

“HOW HAVE YOU BEEN IVE MISSED YOU!”

Too late. Miku pounced on my arm and started to nuzzle my chest. Her mouth stank of whoever she had just fed off and her fangs were stained with blood. I couldn’t say much though; mine was the same.

“How was school yesterday Len! I’m so sad we’re not in more classes together!”

“Are you ok len? You haven’t been talking to me!”

“Do you want to go out with me?! I do love you, y’know.”

Could she be quiet for one second? I’m not interested.

“Sorry Miku, I’m not interested in girls…”

“B- but I like you Len.”

“I like you too. Just not in that kinda way y’know.”

“But-”

“It’s nothing personal Miku, I’m just not into girls.”

Oh my god Rin, stop smiling at me and do something!

“Could you at least help me with the maths project?" Miku said while looking down at me and smiling.

“Miku you know I’m the most incompetent person at maths. I’ll probably make your grade worse.”

“I’m sure your great at maths, Len! I can’t tell tho because you sit at the back of the class with them others.”

“Miku we’re in bottom set maths I can’t be that good.”

Then Rin finally decided to open that mouth of hers, “Let’s watch a movie!!”

“YEAH!! Come on Len!”

“W-wait-!”

And that’s how I got dragged into watching a trash movie with my sister and her best friend.

Someone kill me.

***

The movie was terrible. It was some weird high school romcom filled to the brim with clichés. The nerdy girl was crushing on the handsome jock but then she got bullied by the bullies and then she got trashed at prom, but *insert sarcastic yay here* the jock actually loves her and they kiss or some shit. 

Plot: 1/10  
Visuals: 4/10  
Cute guys: 5/10 they weren’t really my type

Sweet Jesus I feel like a movie critic. Well… I was sorta pretending to be CinemaSins counting all the things wrong with it. I counted 552.

During the movie, I was wedged on the couch between the two girls with Miku practically on top of me. They weren’t even watching it. They were just chatting and squealing at the “cute” guys and Miku still had a firm grip on my poor arm. I’m gonna get a bruise I swear.

I wanted to sneak off and do something else. ANYTHING else.

My mind wandered back to the boy I fed off. He looked so young. He looked my age. Why did my dad bring back a child? He did taste better than the men we normally feed off but he’s so young. He didn’t deserve this. Poor kid.

Maybe I should talk to him. It’s probably better than this nightmare of a movie I’ve been forced to watch.

And he is kinda cute.

“I gotta piss.” I announced and headed downstairs to the Blood Bank.

They didn’t even notice I left.

***

When I got down there, the boy was kneeled over in a puddle of his own fluids, gagging. He was as frail and white as a ghost and I could see my marking on his porcelain neck, bruised and swollen.

The poor kid. I was the one who did this to him. I knew he was too young; I shouldn’t have done it. I shouldn’t have fed off him.

He was absolutely delicious though.

“Urmmm… hi?” I said

He flinched and tears started to well up in his eye.

“Please… Not again” His voice was hoarse and shaky as he forced the words out.

“Oh no- I’m not here to feed… I- uh... I’m here to apologize.”

“W- what do you mean?”

“I’m sorry. I knew you were too young to feed off, but I did it anyway. I’m sorry. You’re just a kid my age, you shouldn’t have had to go through that.”

“Well urm- I guess I accept your apology...”

“I was hoping we could be friends- maybe. I want to help you”

“Help me? Help me how?”

“I- don’t know…”

Maybe humans aren’t as bad as my parents said. Maybe they aren’t just objects. He looked cute with that golden mop of hair on his head, even if it was dirty and soaked with sweat and god knows what.

I moved to sit down next to him. 

This poor kid. He’s really adorable, but if my mum found out I was talking to a human I’d be sent straight off to therapy.

His amber eye glinted with a hint of curiosity. “well… ok. Can I ask you some questions?”

“Sure”

“Are you a vampire?”

“Well, yeah. That’s kinda why I bit you and sucked your blood. What’s your name by the way?”

“Oh, I’m Oliver.”

Hmmmmmm… Oliver. That’s a really cute name, but Ollie’s an even cuter nickname.

“How about you?”

“I’m Len. Banana Bitch as my sister calls me”

“That doesn’t sound very vampire like.”

“What, do you humans expect count Vladimir Vatore or something?”

“Well maybe,” He replied, and the most adorable giggle escaped his lips, “That’s what they’re all called in books and stuff.”

“Well I’m just good old Banana Bitch Len Kagamine.”

“Banana Bitch? That’s a bit mean.” Oliver questioned.

“Well that’s my twin sister Rin for you. I personally call her Orange Whore myself. It’s no alliteration or anything but I couldn’t think of anything better.” I replied

He giggled again, then stopped and looked up at me.

“How many of them are there?” Oliver asked

“Vampires?”

“Nah I was talking about bananas.”

“I-, Don’t shame me for being a little slow ‘kay”

He giggled even more.

“Well, this whole place is a community of them. Everyone around here is a vampire except for the humans kept in blood banks.”

“Is that what I’m in? A Blood Bank?”

“Yeah, it’s a place where vampires keep humans to feed off. Every family has one.”

“But why do you have to feed off humans?”

“I don’t think we have too… but my parents have only let me feed off humans. I’ve always wanted to feed off a rat or something. It’ll be cool to see what it tastes like.

“Okay… Len?”

“Yeah”

“Who brought me here?”

“That was my dad, why?”

He tilted his head, “I was just curious.”

“Okay then,” I spoke, and then I giggled.

“Hey, Banana Bitch…”

“I swear to sweet sweet Jesus Oliver…”

“When am I next going to be fed off?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. Probably when my family smells you’re ready and when they next get thirsty. I don’t want to feed off you again, but my parents and Rin will.”

“Can’t you just tell them not to feed off me?”

“I wish I could, but I’d get smacked into the fourth dimension if I say anything. Vampires are meant to treat humans like objects. They only exist for us to feed off apparently. It’s been drilled into me since I was little”

“You don’t think I’m an object- do you Len?”

“No Ollie. You’re my friend. I don’t care if you’re a human, you’re still my friend.”

My very cute friend.

Oh god Len, stop being a perverted 14-year-old gay will ya?

“Thanks Len”

“LEN WHERE DID YOU RUN OFF TOO! GET YOUR BANANA ASS BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!”

Oh god. They finally realised I left.

“Sorry Ollie, I need to go, Orange whore realised I left. I’ll talk to you again later kay.”

“O -ok. Bye Len. I’m gonna miss you.”

That look in his eyes, full of dread and worry. He’s adorable.

“It’s gonna be alright, I promise”

“Okay, Goodbye Len.”

“Bye Ollie.”

I resisted the temptation to kiss the top of his head and sprinted upstairs.

Rin’s actually gonna kill me this time.


	4. Chapter 4

Let me tell you, being stared down and interrogated by two girls isn’t fun. It was like they were playing good cop bad cop. Well... cop that wants me dead and cop that won’t stop staring at me. To be honest Rin was the only one interrogating, Miku was staring at me with puppy eyes like she was worried or something. It’s not like I ran away and nearly got attacked; I didn’t even go anywhere for goodness sake.

“Hey, stop ignoring me Banana Bitch”

“Yeah, what?”

“You heard me! Why did you leave and where did you run off to?”

Even though Rin was ugly, she could be quite scary sometimes. Wait… Maybe that’s why she was so scary. With her blood red eyes, furrowed brows and fangs bared, she looked a lot like my sleep paralysis demon and I don’t even feel bad about saying that.

“I told you I just pissed then grabbed some food!”

“Ugh Good Lord Len just tell us.”

“Rin, I went to piss.”

“Len, I swear to sweet motherfudging Jesus.”

“What? That’s what happened.”

Obviously exasperated, she turned to look at the twin-tailed girl who watching this confrontation from the comfort of the couch.

“Miku can you stop ogling at Len and say something?!” 

“Well, Len, it seemed like you were in the bathroom for a long time.” She innocently questioned as her teal eyes twinkle in the light, “Are you sure you weren’t doing something else in there?”

“Eh?!” I exclaimed.

My face started to burn up and I could see Rin’s cheeks start to flush as well. Miku was still just staring at us from the couch with a questioning look on her face, her head slightly tilted.

Did Miku really just say that?! Did she really not realise what she just said?! Is she THAT innocent?!

I mean, Oliver’s cute and all but I don’t like him enough to y’know, do that kind of stuff to him…

Yet.

I might consider it next time though.

What the fuck am I saying?

The air was so tense you could cut it with a knife. The awkward silence seemed to hang in the air forever. Rin just stood there staring awkwardly at my crotch and Miku didn’t seem to get the hint that she said something wrong. She just kept on looking at me while our faces kept on burning up.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

And no, not because I had a little something something going on down there y’nasties. Get your mind out the gutter.

...

...

...

“Hey Len, y’know Miku found a bird.”

I stuttered “W- wha?”

“Len, when you were gone, I found a bird outside,” Miku began, “It looked tired so I brought him in. You could keep him if you want.”

“Why are you two bringing this up now?”

“To distract us and to change the subject of this conversation from you obviously doing something in that bathroom which I’m happy to not know about.” Rin hissed.  
As much as I wanted to save my dignity and admit I wasn’t in the bathroom when I was gone, I knew that would just make Rin start interrogating me more to find out what I was doing. Her thinking I was doing something like that was the only excuse I had and to be honest, it was probably better than her finding out I was talking to a human.

Anyway, I’m a 14-year-old boy so Rin shouldn’t be so disgusted. It’s pretty normal for me to be doing that kinda thing. She’s probably doing it as well to be honest.

“So Len, do you want to see him?”

“Uh, y-yeah sure.”

Miku disappeared and rentered the living room cradling a small bundle of blankets in her arms.

“Here he is!” she said placing the bundle in my lap.

I looked down to see the cutest baby bird snuggling into my arms. A tiny American goldfinch curled up into a ball of golden fluffiness. His feathers glinted and twinkled in the light and his ebony black eyes stared up at me. His tiny chest slowly heaved up and down as he breathed. I reached down and ruffled his feathers. They were so intricate, beautiful and soft.

“He’s so adorable.” I said softly, almost a whisper.

“I knew you’d like him.” Rin announced.

“What are you gonna name him, Len?”

“I don’t know. I’ll think of something later.”

Miku and Rin moved to sit down on the couch next to me.

“Hiya little cutie,” She whispered as she stroked his feathers, “You’re so adorable.”

“Wait, Rin”

“Yeah.”

“Do Mum and Dad know we’re keeping the bird?”

“Yep. I asked them and they said you could keep him because we know you’ve always wanted a bird.”

“He’s so adorable” I almost squealed.

“Guys, I should probably be going” said Miku.

“Ok, bye! I’m gonna miss you!” said Rin who stood up to hug her.

“Gay!” I shouted.

“Len, shut up.”

“What? Its gay.”

“The only gay in this room is you, Len”

“You sure ‘bout that?” I smirked

“Y- Yes!” She said, pouting.

“Welp. I’m gonna go upstairs with the bird. You two can be gay.”

“We’re both straight Banana Bitch.”

“If you say so.” I shouted as I disappeared upstairs, carrying my new pet in my arms.

I could almost hear her pouting from upstairs.

No matter how many times she denied it, I knew Rin was gay. I have evidence pointing towards it. First, I overheard her and Miku talking about the fact that she might be bisexual and second, I’ve seen the Yuri in her room, and I’ve caught her watching it before. So yeah, she defiantly somewhat gay. Also don’t tell them, but I ship the Orange whore and Miku; they’ll make a great couple. And if Miku’s dating Rin, then she won’t be interested me anymore. It’s great!

This isn’t related to the topic of Rin being gay, but I really need to confront her on why my yaoi has been disappearing from my room recently and reappearing in hers. Its verryyyy suspicious...

I don’t have a problem with her borrowing my yaoi. I just want her to ask me first and to stop bending the pages. It’s like she has a problem with keeping the pages straight or something. Maybe it’s because she’s not straight!?!

I’ve been rambling; I need to sleep.

***

I nestled under the covers in my mountain of blankets, cuddling the bird by my side. He was beautiful. It was like a dream come true. He nestled into my neck as I drifted off and I buried my face in his feathers. He weirdly reminded me of Oliver. I don’t know why; it was just something about him.

Oliver,

I wondered how he was doing down in the Blood Bank. Probably not good. His family were probably worried sick about him. Maybe he was getting attacked by some of the other feeders. Maybe he’s getting fed off. Maybe he’s collapsed on the floor. Maybe something happened to him.

My phone buzzed. It was probably Piko, Fukase and Flower spamming the group chat again. I picked up my phone, put it on silent and chucked it across the room. I’m trying to sleep goddammit.

I muttered to myself as I drifted into the land of dreams.


	5. Chapter 5

Bzzt

Bzzzzt

B- Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

Wh- What the-

I fished my hand over the edge of my bed, trying to find my phone.

I swear I put it on silent.

Rolling over in the other direction, I was greeted with my phone in my face and my bird sitting next to it.

What the-

Birds can’t work phones… Can they?

I picked up my phone. There was a note attached to it written in Rin’s scribbly handwriting.

_Lol Hi Len I turned your phone off silent and shoved it near your ear so I wouldn’t have to wake you up this morning. I’m guessing it worked cuz I hear your phone buzzing all flipping night when it’s not on silent lmao_

_Also I’m not gay_

“WHAT THE HELL RIN I WAS HAVING A GOOD DREAM!”

A very good dream, it was about Ollie. I won’t get into the details though, my pants are tight enough.

I trudged to the bathroom, took care of myself, showered, got dressed, the usual and went downstairs. Not before barging into Rin’s room and giving her the middle finger.

It was Sunday so I could talk to Ollie all day!

… and procrastinate about my homework…

I’ll do it I swear.

It’s just algebra is sooo borriiiinnnnggg. It’s like the deformed lovechild of English and maths and I can’t do English or Maths. Not to mention all the straight guys as well as Fukase keep screaming “Haha alge **bra** haha” during class.

Like what the hell I want to jump out the window during maths already.

At least I sit next to Fukase and Piko during maths at the back so we can just chat all lesson. Flower’s in top set maths. I really don’t know how tho. I never knew she was that good at maths.

***

“Morning Ollie!”

“It’s the morning?”

“Yep! How did you not kno- Oh wait, there are no windows here.”

“I didn’t know what time it was…”

“Yeah… Anyway, how you feeling?”

“Ok I guess,”

I sat down next to him on the smooth concrete and looked at him. He was certainly calmer that yesterday, but I could see more cuts and bruises all over his body and his skin was turning more of a greyish hue. The bandages around his limbs were starting to dirty and fall apart, exposing huge areas of purply-greenish bruising. I could see that the area around his left eye, the one under the now blood-stained bandages, was red, swollen and was leaking a clear fluid mixed with blood and the liquid was slowly trickling down his cheek.

What happened to it?

…

“Hey Ollie,”

“Yeah,”

“What happened to your eye?”

He averted his eye and squirmed “N- nothing,”

“oh- ok…”

I guess he doesn’t want to talk about it. I can’t blame him, it looks pretty bad.

To lift the awkward air starting to surround us, I changed the topic to some more trivial things including sport, school and other random topics. We managed to change the topic to birds, which I found out was a shared interest of ours.

“I have a bird, but he doesn’t have a name yet.”

“Can you name him James? Please…”

“Sure! That sounds like a great name.”

“It’s the name of my pet bird I had before I was brought here.”

“Oh, where is he now?”

“I don’t know. Probably lost…” He muttered and started to tear up.

This tearing up then evolved into a crying mess of an Ollie so I pulled him into a hug.

His body’s so thin and frail… but also really cold. I mean, it makes sense, there isn’t really heating down here and it is winter.

“Don’t worry Ollie I’m sure he’s okay.” I whispered holding him tighter.

He perked up and stared into my eyes, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

We sat there, in the middle of the Blood Bank on the rough concrete floor, in a tight embrace with Oliver burying his head in my shoulder. I breathed in his hair. Yeah, it smelt of dirt. The other feeders stared at us with their cloudy lifeless eyes. They were so obviously braindead that they didn’t know what was happening. If I wasn’t in my current situation, I probably would’ve felt bad for letting them get to that stage of lifelessness, but at that moment all my attention was on the small blond boy wrapped around me.

He was so beautiful…

I really shouldn’t be saying that when he’s having a meltdown about his pet maybe being dead. Not to mention, the ptsd he’s probably going to have after this.

…

“Hey Ollie,”

“Mhm,”

“What’s life like in the human world?”

“I don’t know, normal?”

“That doesn’t help I’m a vampire.” I giggled into his ear as we broke the hug.

I looked at him after we pulled away, his cheeks were flushed and he was squirming around.

I fiddled around with my hands and squirmed. That felt really weird.

“I don’t know, probably the same as yours, except the whole drinking blood thing.”

“Maybe… Ollie, what’s your family like? I’m sure they’re worried sick about you.”

“Well…” Oliver started to tear up again as he spoke, “I had a mum, dad and an older brother.”

“Had?... Are they…?”

“Yeah…”

“Oh…”

And we returned to the hug, Oliver now having a full-blown meltdown into my shoulder. I swear he’s gonna pull away and my shirt’s gonna be soaked through with his tears. His grip was tight around my chest as I lightly held him, trying to move him away from sitting on my *ahem* that bit of my lap. My back was starting to hurt, but It was an amazing feeling just having our bodies so close. The only bad thing about it is well… Ollie’s crying and just thinking about what he’s having to go through is painful, but also the fact that if anyone catches me down here, I’d be sent straight to a mental hospital for therapy.

Maybe that isn’t a bad thing. I probably do have some sort of mental problem for feeling attachment to this human, to this object.

“Len, I want to go home.” He choked out into my shoulder, the terror in his voice prompting me to hold him tighter.

“I’m going to get you home I promise, Ollie.”

However, the moment was shattered as we both heard footsteps coming down the stairs.


	6. Chapter 6

We pulled away and our eyes locked in a panic.

Where could I hide?

If I was caught down here talking to Oliver, I’d be sent straight off to therapy. Not to mention absolutely humiliated. Everyone at school would know that I had this mental issue and I wasn’t the most popular to begin with.

As I said, the Blood Bank was a long rectangular basement with walls made of solid concrete and stone, so there weren’t many places to hide. I could always try to hide behind some of the other feeders but come on, that’s never gonna work. They were all passed out on the concrete so I would have to build a wall of then to even cover me and… yeah… that’s more ridiculous than Fukase’s attempts to flirt.

The only other option I had was to hide under the stairs. The underneath of the stairs was mostly just a solid block of stone but there was a tiny gap I could just about squeeze in if I really tried. It would be painful as hell but I really didn’t have any other options.

As quick as a flash, I leapt up, looked at Oliver one last time and scrambled under the stairs, scraping my knees in the process. Welp, I guess that’s what I get for wearing shorts when it’s like -3°C outside.

It was really compact in the crevice under the stairs. The rough concrete scraped at my body and bare legs from all angles. The gap was so small that I was hunched into a ball and if I tried to lift my head, I would smack it again the solid stone above me. Not gonna lie, I did end up doing that a couple times and trust me, smacking your head against a solid block of stone H U R T S.

Luckily, I could just about peak my head out around the stairs, so I was able to watch what was about to unfold.

The footsteps thumped above me, muffled by the mass of stone. Soon I could see the back of a blond-haired figure dressed in brown trousers and a grey jumper.

My father.

I couldn’t see his face but I’m sure his eyes were probably glowing blood red, fangs bared and his eyes scanning the room, looking for his next meal.

“Please don’t go for Ollie. Please don’t go for Ollie. Please don’t go for Ollie.” I chanted under my breath.

He stood in the middle of the room and stared.

Then Oliver stood and my father approached him.

No no no no no. Please not Ollie!

Anyone but Ollie!

My eyes started to glaze over with tears.

Please don’t…

Ollie gave me one last look, fear ridden in his eye. A look of desperation. A look of “Help me” as my dad’s fangs sank into his neck.

I looked at him back and whispered,

“I’m sorry, Ollie.”

The sound of his flesh being ripped and punctured was deafening. Ollie’s entire body jolted backwards but my dad’s grip on his arms was too strong. He eventually just succumbed to it and his head started to loll downwards, resting on my dad’s shoulder. The metallic scent of fresh blood wafted towards me and, out of instinct, I licked my lips. Pangs of guilt stabbing me in the chest soon after.

Ollie…

I could almost see the veins under his skin pulse every time my dad sucked. It was disgusting but I couldn’t look away. Tears started to paint his now greyish and lifeless face. They hugged all the curves, extenuating how sunken in his face had become.

My dad just continued. Ignoring what he was doing to Oliver. How could he not realise that he was a child? Just a little, innocent child?

My entire body was frozen. This sight was definitely going to haunt me for the next few weeks.

I-

I-

Ollie just hold on…

Please…

His eye started to drift closed and his body started to involuntarily shake so my dad pulled away, however strings of saliva mixed with blood connected them for a brief moment after. Ollie’s knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Without even looking back, my dad turned and headed upstairs.

I waited a couple seconds, then shuffled out of my hiding spot, accumulating more cuts in the process. I pulled his head onto my lap and traced my thumb over his closed eyelid. Holding him tightly I whispered,

“Ollie, Ollie are you ok?”

No response. He was still firmly unconscious, and he was going to be for a while.

That didn’t stop me from stroking his hair and holding him tighter though.

The bite on his neck was still bleeding quite badly; creamy smooth liquid trickled down, staining his shirt a brilliant red. My dad bit in a slightly different place than I had (It would be slightly weird if we did do it in the exact same place) so Ollie was now going to have four circular scars in his neck. Possibly more if my mum or Rin decided to feed on him later. I hadn’t realised it until a familiar dryish craving filled my mouth, but I was immensely thirsty. Bending down, I carefully licked his wound and blood while telling excuses to myself such as “I’m just cleaning his wound that’s all” and I wasn’t just really thirsty and wanted to taste his juices again.

I finished and licked my lips, his wound now painted in my saliva, however I still craved more. Ollie’s breath suddenly hitched. I looked down and realised his bladder had released.

Well that’s kinda gross.

I tried to angle his body away so that I wouldn’t get piss all over me. It did work but I would definitely need another shower tonight.

Wait did this happen last time?

Do all humans piss themselves after they get fed from?

It does kinda make sense.

Does it?

As much as I wanted to stay down there with Ollie, I knew I couldn’t. My family would be beginning to wonder where I was about now and there wasn’t really much point in staying down there. Oliver wouldn’t be conscious for a while, sadly.

I stood up, my legs still being numb from hiding in that gap for so long, dusted the concrete from my knees, and turned to leave but not before kissing Ollie on the top of the head.

He’ll never know…

***

“Rin, Len, sorry to interrupt your show but your father and I are going to go out for the day tomorrow, so try not to burn the house down, okay.” My mum announced to me and Rin, both of us sitting on the couch trying to watch tv. She literally just walked in front of us and said it while blocking the tv. Like, couldn’t she have told us later?

“Mum, we’ll be fine. Len’s probably gonna invite his friends round so if the house is trashed, blame it on him.” Rin said, looking up from her phone.

“Rin what the fuck-”

“Len, Language!” My mum snapped at me.

“I-”

Her glare could kill someone I swear.

“Mum can you get out the way of the tv please?” Rin asked

“Yes, sorry Darling.” She said as she left the room.

“Thanks Mum!”

“Right I’m going to bed.” I said, standing up and dropping the remote on Rin’s head.

“Ah Len! What the fuck!”

“So, I get shouted at for swearing and you don’t, hm?”

“Ha! Mum just likes me more! And I don’t swear when she’s around like an idiot.”

“Fuck you.”

“Len, don’t use that naughty language.”

“I swear to god Rin. Anyway, who you texting?” I said, leaning over trying to see her phone. She promptly angled it in the other direction.

“None of your business!”

I smirked.

“Your texting Miku, aren’t you? And why’s there a heart by her name?”

“I’m not gay! Hearts can be used in a platonic way, you idiot!”

“Yeah right. Have fun being gay with Miku.”

“Miku doesn’t even like me. She likes you.”

“So are you confessing to liking her?”

“Eh!? No! Anyway, Miku’s coming round tomorrow so make sure your weird squad aren’t too loud.”

“Just make sure Miku doesn’t come near me. And I never said my friends were coming round.”

“It’s you so they probably will be. Anyway weren’t you going to bed?”

“Yeah, but that was before I noticed there was a heart by Miku’s name on your phone...”

“Fuck off.”

“Rin! Language!” My mum’s voice erupted from the hallway.

I smirked at her and then immediately ran upstairs into my bedroom. She wasn’t gonna kill me this time.

***

I collapsed into bed. The cuts on my legs from today were looking pretty ugly. They weren’t that deep, but they still hurt.

Let’s just hope no one notices them, otherwise there would be a ton of questions. I could just say that I fell over playing football or something.

But then Rin would just call me a clutz.

I sighed and closed my eyes, James nestling into my shoulder under the blankets

Tomorrow might be a good day.

I’ll have to survive school first though.


	7. Chapter 7

It's quite... comical, let's say, how me and Rin walk to school together every day. Well... how we don't walk together. Me, Piko, Flower and Fukase walk on one side of the road while Rin, Miku and a few others including Gumi, Miki and Kokone walk on the other side. I know. It's stupid how we have to walk on different sides of the street, but Piko and Miki would probably end up killing each other on the way because of good old sibling rivalry, and Miku would just end up trying to touch me. Rin would probably tell everyone my weird secrets (to be honest, she's probably told all her friends them already) and I do not want Fukase knowing that stuff. So... yeah... That 15 minute walk would end up feeling like an eternity.

Oh, you thought that was all?

You thought that everyday it's just a nice peaceful walk to school on our opposite sides of the road?

Not even close.

It's anything but peaceful.

Everyone, mostly Fukase and Rin, always shouts random things across the road at each other. Anything from "Hey what's the answer to the maths homework" to "Hey, Len got hard in the changing room yesterday cuz he's a gay slut". Yeah, Fukase screamed that; feel sorry for me. Also, he gets a boner in the changing room just as much as me because he's just as gay as me, but no one ever shouts that across the street...

I feel so sorry for the people that live on the streets we have to walk down. Almost everyday they just hear a group of teenagers screaming shit across the street. I would've moved away if I were them...

"Flower, what's the answer to the maths homework?" Fukase asked as we walked on our side of the road.

"I don't know Fuckass. I'm not in your maths class." she replied, looking up from her phone.

"Cuz your so smart and in top set maths!"

"Hey! It's not my fault I'm good at maths!"

"You don't seem to be good at not getting a black eye every week!"

"Fuck you!"

"I wouldn't mind if you did..." Fukase smirked and received a smack over the head from Flower soon after.

"How did you get that one," I questioned, "Did Mikoto kick a football at your face again?"

"Yes! She's doing it on purpose I swear!" Flower prodded at her eye as she spoke, "I hate having sisters!"

"Hey! It's not just you who has a sister!" Me and Piko responded.

"But you each have 1 sister and they're like 14! I have two and they're 11 and trying to kill me! Thank the lord they're still young cuz otherwise they would have to walk to school with us!"

"I am not looking forward to that," Muttered the white-haired boy who had for once stopped kicking stones at my feet, "Maybe Hime will walk with the girls?"

"There's no way that's happening. Hime will refuse to be separated from Mikoto and you can bet your ass that she'll beg to walk with us."

I glanced at my twin from across the street. "To be honest, I could probably handle Hime and Mikoto. Do you wanna trade them for Rin?"

"If it means no more footballs to the face then sure! Just bare in mind that they are the messiest feeders."

"How bad are they?"

"Like, literally more blood on the floor than in their mouths."

"Hey! Can I trade Miki for someone?!" Piko shouted.

"Miki doesn't seem that bad."

"You're not the one living with her, Len!"

"Haha Bitches! I don't have a sister!"

"Yeah you're lucky Fuckass." Flower muttered.

"My parents just aren't as horny as yours."

"You do understand that me and Rin are twins, right? And you do know how twins work, right? It was still just one round of..."

"Yeah, yeah, sex ed whatever."

"I'm so glad you lean more towards guys cuz otherwise you're gonna be having 100 kids."

"You're probably gonna be having kids with Miku, aren't you Len~"

"Come on Fuckass. You know I'm gay."

"Yeah with the number of boners you get in the changing room from staring at my beautiful body."

"Fuck off."

"Jesus Christ, what happens in the boys' changing room?" Flower questioned, slightly scared.

"You don't wanna know." Me and Piko replied in unison.

"Haha, hey Miku!" Fukase shouted across the street and Rin's entire group turned to look at us. Miku's eyes perking up especially, "Len wants to date you!"

"H- Hey, no I don't! Ignore everything Fuckass is saying!"

Miku's mood immediately lowered and her eyes lowered with disappointment.

"Fuck off Fuckass!" Shouted Gumi.

"Shut up guys." Said Piko, "We're at school already."

"School? You mean hell, Piks?" Fukase smirked.

"Don't call me Piks."

"Should I call you babe instead?"

"What the fuck. If you want a boyfriend, go date Len."

"Nah, I'm good." I replied immediately, "Anyway I need to stop by my locker to get some stuff before we go to maths."

"Ugh god, we have maths?"

"Yes Flower, so you need to go to your class with Gumi and Mayu."

"Welp, see you. Bye bitches."

"So... Len, what's the answer to the maths homework?"

"My god Fuckass."

***

12\. That's the twelfth time that Miku has turned around and stared at me this lesson with those beady blue eyes of hers, and we're only 20 minutes in. Can she just stop before I go jump out the window? I don't like her.

I exasperatedly glared back at her. She promptly turned back around and I carried on trying to make sense of the algebra equation Mrs Megurine had written on the whiteboard. I quickly scribbled more illegible notes in my book. Jesus Christ, my handwriting is trash; what did that sentence even say? Suddenly, I felt a jab in my arm. It was Fukase and his dangerously sharp pencil again.

"Bruh, she wants to get laid."

"Well I don't wanna get laid." I replied and attempted to swat his pencil murder weapon away from my arm. It didn't work so I got revenge by elbowing him in the side.

"Whyyyyyy?" He sing-songed.

"You know exactly why-yy." I sing-songed back at him. "My gay ass would much rather fuck you and Piko over a girl."

"Hear that Piks? Len wants to have a threesome with us."

Piko immediately looked away from the whiteboard and turned to look at me. "Eh?"

"N-No I don't!"

"Yeah right,"

"Shut up Fukase!"

"Boys at the back be quiet!" Mrs Megurine's voice rang out thorough the class as everyone turned around to stare at us. Twenty pairs of obnoxiously coloured eyes that felt like burning lasers, or an animal staring down their prey.

We shut up after that.

Just then, a familiar dry craving filled my mouth and I realised what it was from. I hadn't fed in two days. How the hell have I been so distracted that I forgot to feed? Lunch break isn't for 2 hours. How the fuck am I meant to get through this?

I tried to ignore the craving and continued scribbling in my book, little doodles of cats, birds, and various other animals jumping and climbing on my maths equations.

Yeah, it didn't work.

Being thirsty is probably one of the worst things a vampire could feel. A rough, dry craving like sandpaper in your mouth that threatens to make you keel over if it isn't sorted our quickly. Like some sort of drug, it could make the victim hallucinate and lose their mind. It could, and would, make the victim go into a frenzy, make them pounce and bite anything with drinkable blood, even killing them in little over a week. Thankfully, I wasn't to that stage yet, but I was bouncing uncontrollably in my seat, and my focus had completely evaporated.

Oooooo, how good some fresh blood would taste right now.

Oliver's would be divine, so creamy and juicy, dripping down my throat...

"What's up with you?" The red head beside me questioned, snapping me out of my trance. He started poking my arm with the pencil murder weapon once again, but this time I didn't have enough energy to care.

I turned vaguely in his direction and stared at the ceiling. "I haven't fed in 2 days..."

"Holy shit, Len! Are you trying to kill yourself!" Fukase whisper-shouted, mouth agape as he stared at me in shock.

"No! I've just forgotten, I guess..."

"How have you forgotten to drink?!"

"Len, that isn't good for you." Piko said, turning to me.

I sighed. "I know but uhhhgggg..."

"Well, only a couple more lessons before lunch, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

***

As soon as those two lessons were over, I bolted out of school. I said bye to Piko, Fukase and Flower and started to run as fast as I could without drawing any unwanted attention to myself. Any other day, I would've slowed down, taken in the wildlife, maybe even stop to feed the birds on the way. I would just put on some music and escape from reality. There was this huge park that we had to pass when we walk to and from school where I normally stop every so often to relax, especially during boring lunch breaks. It was a paradise in the middle of the town we lived in, bursting to the brim with all sorts of plants and animals. It wasn't as beautiful and luscious as it could be because it was the middle of winter and it didn't snow much so the world just felt like a cold, grey stand-still. Don't get me wrong, it was still absolutely breath-taking with its tall tightly-packed trees arching over the snow-dusted path running down the middle. I'd become accustomed to all the intricate little nooks and crannies. Each one perfect for hiding in.

But today wasn't any other day.

I continued running, awkwardly slowing down and speeding back up as I passed people. My mind and had gone as well as any coherent thoughts that came with it. My vision had melded into various masses of colour and shape. I needed something, anything.

Every step I took thumped in my head. The pounding and pulsing in my brain increased the further I ran.

"Just a little bit further." I muttered to myself under my breath as I nearly tripped, getting a shot of my deathly pale, clammy hand in the process.

After what seemed like an eternity of pounding, thumbing, ringing, and my brain feeling like it was going to burst any second, I reached my house.

I fumbled around in my pockets, eventually finding my keys, and then proceeded to fumble even more trying to get the keys into the lock. Words can't describe how quickly I slammed open the door, shouted hi to my mum, and sprinted downstairs to the Blood Bank.


	8. Chapter 8

I almost fell face-first down the stairs leading to the Blood Bank. My heartbeat was deafening in my ears, my skin was drenched in sweat and I felt like I was going to pass out on the concrete in front of me. Every tiny sound sent a pulsing rocketing through my brain and every step sent me swaying side to side.

Panicked, my eyes scanned the room, looking for my next meal, and came to rest on one dull golden blob in the middle of the room.

Ollie.

My thirst overtook my entire body, consumed all my senses. His blood was all I could comprehend. The vibrant ruby-red liquid, so exquisite, so creamy, juicy, filling my mouth, gushing down my throat...

"Len?" He said, but I didn't hear him in my haze. I licked my lips; I just wanted his blood.

I pounced.

Knocking him over backwards, my body landed on top of his and I sloppily tore into his neck, the sound of his flesh ripping echoing throughout the room. Blood spurted out everywhere, painting his neck and face, and my face, mouth, and shoulder a brilliant red. He screamed, squirmed and wriggled, trying to grip the concrete beneath him, battering at my back, trying with all his might to push me off him, yet I stayed firmly where I was, on all fours, knees planted either side of his hips.

My brain, completely clouded with thirst and desire, muffled out his shouts. His desperate shouts of pain and fear that he screamed into my shoulder and T-shirt, which was dyed red with his own blood. I placed my hands on his shoulders to get more leverage on his neck and pushed his frail body further into the floor.

I licked, sucked, bit and chewed, completely obliterating his neck, leaving a deep bloody gash covering a huge chunk of his skin. More cuts and gashes from where his body had been rammed against the floor had started to trickle blood, so I impulsively licked them, leaving them painted in saliva. The bleeding had steadily died down, now just setting inside the wound, creating a pool of blood in his flesh, so I grabbed around his neck and pressed down, trying to squeeze out every last drop of the gorgeous liquid. He coughed and spluttered.

The struggle and the retaliating had also steadily stopped, and I was now left lapping up the blood pooling on and around Oliver's unconscious body.

After licking up the last drops of blood in the wound, I snapped out of my trance and sat up, my eyes widening at the mess beneath me.

His tear stained eyelashes fluttered gently beneath me as I straddled his limp body. His limbs lay lifeless on the concrete, covered in various bruises and grazes. His face looked horrendous, covered in tears and open cuts covered in my saliva mixed with his blood that trickled down his cheeks. I teared up as I looked at his lip, which was slowly trickling blood. He probably bit it because of the excruciating pain.

"Ollie," I whispered and caressed his pale face. "Ollie I'm so sorry."

The gash on the side of his neck looked so horrible that I gagged a little looking down at it. It was deep, and I mean very deep. I could see his muscle. It looked like a huge chunk off his neck had just been bitten off. Bits and pieces of flesh were hanging off the sides and floated in the puddle off blood beneath. I bent down and tenderly licked it.

...

"Jesus Christ Len, you were messy." Rin said after she walked behind me and looked down at Oliver's broken body. She lightly kicked his side, and then kicked my side even harder. "Now we're not gonna be able to feed off him in a while, and I didn't even get a chance to taste him!"

I quickly sat back up and turned to look at her. "Well that's your problem, isn't it?"

She pouted and kicked me again, harder this time. "Anyway, are your friends coming round after school tonight? Cuz if they are, I need to tell Miku."

Looking back at Ollie's bleeding unconscious body one last time, I stood up and made my way up the stairs. "I don't know. I'll ask them and tell you later."

***

Guilt and embarrassment stabbed me in the chest as I stared at myself in the mirror. I looked a mess; most of the top half of my T-shirt and the area surrounding my mouth was covered in Oliver's blood. I took of my stained T-shirt and threw it in a random corner of my room. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I sighed. "Today's just great, isn't it? I lost control and shredded half of Oliver's neck." I mumbled sarcastically. I got back up, pulled on a clean T-shirt and a hoodie, washed my face, and sat back on the edge of my bed and cried, James staring at me the entire time.

***

The walk back to school was a weird one. I was hoping I could just put on some music and slump my way to school, kicking the stones as I did, but no. Ia bounded up to me and tapped me on the shoulder. I took off my headphones to see what she wanted, but she just started talking to me. She just started to walk next to me and talk to me. I don't know why, and I don't know what about, I wasn't listening.

Did she have a fight with Yukari, Teto and Neru and need some new friends or something?

"Hey Len, do you know if Flower's single or not?"

I almost choked on my own spit. "W-What- Y-Yeah, I know, but I'm not telling you."

"Whyyy?" she wined.

"Why do you want to know????" I questioned.

"Cuz I think Cul's into her."

"Eh- What-?"

"So, is she single?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Cuz I saw you and you're friends with her. So... is she?"

"Yeah. Now can you stop harassing me?"

"Fine, fine, fine."

Ia shut up after that. She was still overly-energetically skipping next to me, her long white hair blowing and smacking me in the face a couple times, but she wasn't talking to me. I put my headphones back on, and we made our way to school in silence.

So Cul's into Flower? Never would've thought...

***

We managed to get to school without any further conversation. Ia skipped off towards Teto, Neru, Yukari and Cul, and I was greeted at the gate by Fukase, Piko and Flower. Fukase's eyes darted back and forth between me and Ia, and he smirked.

"Hey, Len was walking with a girl~"

I looked at him. Then looked at Flower. "So were you."

"But that's Flower. She doesn't count."

"Excuse me! Yes I do! I'm still a girl!"

"But you don't look like one." Fukase responded.

"And? Len and Piko look like girls!"

"Guys, I think you should calm the fuck down." Piko piped up but was promptly ignored.

Fukase crossed his arms, the snarky expression on his face only growing. "You won't being saying that after you see them in the changing room. Len's got quite the package if I do say so myself."

"Eh?!

"F-Fukase!" I squeaked, blushing.

"It's true though."

"Fukase, I did not need to know this!" Flower shouted

"It's useful information." He replied, grinning.

"What!" Flower screeched, her and Fukase promptly returning to their argument. 

"I- er, Len?" Piko whispered, nudging me in the side.

I fiddled with my hands and turned to him. "Y-Yeah?"

"Why were you walking with Ia?"

"Oh, I- she came up to me and asked me something."

"What?" He asked, intrigued and slightly tilting his head.

"She asked if Flower was single."

At that point the world seemed to jolt into a stunned silence. Flower and Fukase instantly stopped arguing and turned to look at me and Piko. Flower let out a startled "What!", that was probably heard by everyone with functioning ears, including Ia and Cul. Fukase only giggled.

I nervously rubbed the back of my neck. "Apparently Cul's into you..."

"Flower's getting some pussy tonight!" Fukase screeched as he continued laughing.

Flower ignored him. "I guess she's kinda cute... but can we really trust Ia?"

"Maybe, I don't know, you can never really be sure with Ia..." Muttered Piko.

"I'll go talk to her later or something." She replied. "Anyway, Fukase can you stop laughing?! I know you're jealous because someone might actually like me but..."

He wheezed and looked up, tears starting to form in his eyes from the laughter. "I'm not jealous!"

"Right..." I started, "While Fuka's having his little laughing fit, do you guys want to come round to mine after school? My parents won't be home."

"Yeah, I'm down. Piko?" Flower asked.

"Yeah, I'll join."

"I'm just gonna assume that Fuka's coming." I said as I kicked him lightly in the shin. "Anyway, we should probably be heading to class."

"Yeah, come on Fukase!" Piko called out behind him as we all started walking.

***

Mr Shion lazed about in his huge comfy desk chair and absent-mindedly stared at his computer, completely ignoring whatever his chemistry class was currently doing. The instructions had been short and vague, "work in pairs and dump all the powders into a bowl and heat it with a Bunsen burner".

Ah yes, completely ignoring a bunch of teenagers who have just been given free will over a bunch of Bunsen burners and harmful chemicals, great teaching Mr Shion.

Me and Flower's weird chemical concoction was coming along quite well, and everyone else's seemed to be too – well... maybe not SeeU and Uni's if the screaming and the shouting coming from their end of the classroom meant anything – but that was until we looked up. Fukase was triumphantly holding up a lit Bunsen burner, prancing around with it, and Piko was nervously standing beside him holding their concoction, telling him to put it down before something bad happened. Fukase completely ignored him.

Crash.

All four of us jolted and looked down, our eyes immediately drifting to the inside of the sink in the middle of the table that we were working at.

Fukase had dropped the flaming Bunsen burner right into the sink in front of us, and the black burnt patch that it was creating at the bottom was rapidly growing.

The only words that came out Fukase's mouth, was one lonely curse that he whisper-shouted, only loud enough to be heard by us four.

"Shit."

We all just stood and stared.

"Fukase!" I exclaimed.

"You fucking idiot." Flower hissed under her breath.

"Fukase I told you to put it down!" Piko squeaked.

"Well I didn't do that, did I?"

"We someone's gonna have to get it out before we set the entire building alight." I said as I took me and Flower's chemical abomination off the Bunsen to prevent any further accidents.

Fukase pointed at me, a look of guilt in his eyes. "I say Len can do it."

"What! Why me!"

"Cuz you said we need to get it out!"

"We can't leave a lit Bunsen burner in a sink!"

"Yeah we can! We can just blame it on Luo or someone!"

"We can't just blame it on someone else!"

"Yeah we can!"

"No we can't we were the only ones working here!"

"We can still blame it on someone else!"

"No we can't!"

"Yeah we-"

Suddenly, Flower stood up straighter and leant over the table, meeting eye to eye with Fukase with a devious smirk. She then brought her index finger to his lip and gently shushed him. After that, and with probably the most smug voice I've probably ever seen her use, she turned to me and spoke. "Seen as you guys are too incompetent to do it, I guess I'm risking my hand to get it out."

"Flower-"

She turned off the gas with a smirk, and the Bunsen silently went out. Me, Fukase and Piko just stared, stunned, as Flower picked it up, and placed it on the counter in front of us. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

"Flower, I was gonna do it."

"Yeah right, Fuckass."

"I was!"

I really don't know how Fukase hasn't burnt the entire school down yet.


	9. Chapter 9

Fumbling around in my pocket for my keys, I opened the door to my house, with a much clearer head than last time, more chemistry homework in my backpack, and Piko, Fukase and Flower trailing behind me, jabbering on about something I wasn't paying attention to.

"So, Len, what are we gonna do? Fukase asked, dropping his bag onto the hallway floor like he owned the place, immediately after I had pushed open the door. I sighed but followed by throwing my bag next to his.

I shut the door behind everyone then turned to look at them. "I don't know," I responded. "We could play Mario Kart or somethi-"

"Len, you didn't tell me they were coming round!" I got startled and jumped as a voice suddenly erupted from the top of the stairs. Rin was standing there, glaring down at us with her crystal blue eyes, while Miku stood right behind her, her bright smile the complete opposite of her best friend.

"Hi, Len!" Miku spoke as she waved, the cheerfulness in her voice making the words feel extremely sticky-sweet.

"Urm... hi?"

"Len, why are they there?" Flower whispered in my ear.

I awkwardly rubbed my neck – something that had become a bad habit of mine whenever I got nervous, which was unfortunately quite often. "I guess I just forgot to tell you?"

"Well now there are six people here. Where are we all meant to fit?" Rin said, slightly calmer than before.

"We'll just go in the living room and play video games if that's okay?"

"Fine, I guess me and Miku will just go hang out in my bedroom then."

Hang out in her bedroom, huh? I thought to myself, a smirk staring to form on my face. Fukase must've starting think the same because he softly giggled next to me. Suddenly, Rin's expression changed, her cheeks flushing as she probably just realised how dirty what she said could've sounded to a bunch of perverted teenagers, especially Fukase.

"Look, I know what you're thinking stop making it weird!"

"Fine, fine, fine," I replied, the smirk on my face staying firmly where it was. "Come on, guys. Let's see how badly we can crush Piko at Mario Kart!"

"H-Hey! I'm not that bad!" He retorted.

We all headed into the living, trying not to trip on our bags as we did so. Piko and Flower sat themselves on the couch, while Fukase just lounged across the entire thing. I heard the console's signature start-up noise as I turned it on and threw everyone a controller – Yes, I know throwing controllers isn't the best idea you don't have to tell me. Piko and Fukase caught theirs, while Flower's went hurtling through the air and smacked her square in the face.

"Fuck you Len! You could've warned me!"

We eventually settled, started-up the game, and picked our characters. Fukase was Bowser Jr, Piko was Toad, Flower was Daisy, and I was Rosalina. Flower somehow came first every single race, with Piko coming somewhere in the middle, and me and Fukase trailing in last. Flower made some weird comments about 'the power of Daisy' or something, but I was determined. I wanted to win a race, just once.

The track was Rainbow Road; the track that Flower had been cussing at the most. The race started and I took off, speeding into first place. I zoomed around the track, turning left and right, somehow not falling off. It looked like I was about to win, but at the last moment, right as I was about to cross the finish line...

I got hit by a blue shell.

A blue shell that was thrown by Toad.

Piko you little-

...

Eventually, Fukase put his controller down on the table and yawned. "Len, this is getting kinda boring. You have anything else we could do?"

Putting my controller down also, I turned to him and spoke. "I don't know. What do you want to do?" This was getting kinda tiring after all.

"Hey, we could get Flower to text Cul." Piko remarked, but not before crossing the finish line yet again in first place, as if he was saying a one final 'fuck you' to me before we switched off the game.

"God, that sounds like a terrible idea." Flower muttered.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Fukase shouted, almost leaping of the couch. "Does anyone have her number?"

"I don't." I said.

Piko replied after me. "Me neither."

"Why would I have it?" Snapped Flower, still salty from Mario kart.

"Would Rin or Miku have it?" Fukase asked as he snatched Flower's phone off her.

Would they have Cul's number? They have no reason too, but then again this is Rin and Miku we're talking about... "Probably..." I replied.

"Len, could you go ask them?"

"Why me??" I sighed.

"Cuz it would be pretty weird if any of us went into Rin's bedroom."

I heaved myself off the comfort of the couch and started to head my way upstairs. "Fine, I'll go ask."

The soft plodding of my feet against the carpet created a steady rhythm as I made my way up the stairs. Eventually, I came to Rin's bedroom door, an ordinary white-painted door with a sign on it that says 'Rin's room, go away' in her scribbly handwriting. This wasn't the first time I had disobeyed the sign – I disobeyed it quite often, whether that was just going to give her the middle finger or pinching the phone charger she had stolen off me a couple days prior – and it would certainly not be the last, but this time just felt different. I heard a soft murmuring coming from the other side of the door, Rin and Miku. Who else could it be?

I slowly opened the door...

Through the tiny crack I could make out two shapes – Rin and Miku – sitting across from each other on Rin's bedroom floor, talking, staring into each other's eyes. They were holding each other's hands and their heads were dangerously close, almost touching, almost-

I immediately shut the door and leant against the wall in shock as my brain tried to process what I just saw.

What the fuck did I just walk into?!

They were holding hands!

They looked like they were about to kiss!

I-

Are they like a couple now!?

I know I wanted this to happen but I never thought it would actually, y'know, HAPPEN!

Trying to calm myself, I softly mumbled under my breath. "It's fine. It's fine. This is fine. I guess Rin and Miku are a thing now. I should just ignore that I ever saw that and knock and just ask for Cul's number."

I psyched myself up, then I knocked, hoping that my voice didn't sound too shaky. "Rin! Miku! Do any of you have Cul's number?"

The panic and the rustle that came from the other side of the door was almost comical as I knew what had just taken place inside that room. It took a few seconds before Rin emerged from the room. She was flustered and her cheeks were slightly flushed. Not prominent enough to be noticeable, but the blush was definitely there.

"Y-yeah I do, why?"

"You should ask Flower next time you see her."

"Okay then... Then give me your phone or something."

I pulled out my phone, switched it on and handed it to Rin while Rin pulled out hers. She filled in the contact on my phone, filling the name out as 'Idk why you need her number but here take it'.

I hopped back down the stairs, my mind still racing from what I had seen.

Are they really a couple now?

Why the hell didn't I knock the first time?

However, I didn't have too much time to think, as I was soon sitting back on the couch in the living room, Piko, Fukase and Flower huddled around Flower's phone. I had put Cul's number into her phone and we were about to send the first text.

"Okay what are we gonna say? Fukase announced.

"Maybe just 'Hi Cul' or something?" Piko suggested.

"Guys, we need to say 'Hi Cul, it's Flower' or she's gonna think we're a stalker"

"I think we should just not say anything at all!" Flower shouted as she clutched her phone even tighter.

"I agree with Flower!" I shouted, trying to be heard above all the shouting

"That's boring. Gimme that." Fukase snatched Flower's phone out of her hands and started to type. "There, now we wait."

I looked over the text. It was just a simple message, reading 'Hi Cul, it's Flower. Ia told me you like me'

We waited, and we waited. When the little typing symbol popped up, we all seemed to hold our breath for a while, but then it disappeared, so we waited some more.

"Jeez, how long does it take to send a text?"

"Says you Fuckass."

Ping!

All our eyes darted back to Flower's phone. A text had appeared, one that read...

"Oh hi, did she? Can we talk about this at school or something? I don't really want to do it over text" Piko read.

Fukase sat back down and sighed. "Well that's boring, but I guess Flower's getting some pussy at school tomorrow~"

"Fukase, you're just jealous!" Flower screeched. She looked down at her phone. "Anyway... I should probably be leaving. Mikoto's telling me to come home."

"Now that I think about it, I should probably be going home too." Piko said.

"Same, it's getting pretty late. I'll see you guys at school tomorrow." Fukase said as he started to get up off the couch.

"Okay, bye then!" I replied.

I waved Piko, Fukase and Flower goodbye, then went up to my room to start on the mass of chemistry homework that Mr Shion had given us. He probably wasn't even gonna mark it, so what's the point exactly?

Well at least no one mentioned the burnt sink...

***

The steps down were cold and rough, the loose bits of rock and concrete pressed into my bare feet, leaving marks. I tried to enter as silently as I could, but it's pretty hard to miss footsteps in a deathly silent room. Deathly silent, except for the muffled sound of crying.

"Ollie?"

"Don't call me that."

I looked at him, sat right in the corner of the room, head down, knees pulled up towards his chest. His voice was hoarse and shaking, like he was trying to stop the tears. The navy blue – now discoloured – cloak he wore hung loosely from his shoulders and crumpled lifeless onto the floor underneath him. Bright red blood pooled under the bandage around his eye, that was now discarded on the floor beside him, yet I couldn't see the state of his left eye, as his head was titled in such a way that I couldn't see his face. Not that I would want to look; I was much more focused on the huge mess on his neck. The mess of blood, flesh and scar tissue that trickled fluid down his pale neck.

I was the one that did that to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked

"Just go away."

"B-but-"

He sniffled and wiped his sunken face. "Just leave, please..."

"Ollie-"

"I said leave."

And with that, I turned and left without saying another word, the tears starting to fall.


	10. Chapter 10

Being woken up by an angry bird wanting food is something I'd never get used to. The loud squawking right in my ear, the pecking at my face while I tried to sleep, me rolling over while I slept, accidentally crushing him, and then having to deal with the impending attack by an extremely annoyed goldfinch. Yes, it was painful, but I love James, and even the little nips decorating my body won't change that.

However, today was different. He was gentle, loving, more than I had ever seen him before.

I didn't know birds could feel affection.

I sat on the edge of my bed, eyes and face slightly damp but mostly hollow from the lack of emotions on display. The clock next to me beeped; 7:30am, Tuesday morning, yet I didn't even flinch; I only stayed staring at my bedroom wall in front of me, my hands absent-mindedly clawing and unclawing at the bedsheets beneath me, while James nuzzled into the side of my thigh, caring and patient, but I ignored everything.

I hurt him.

I really hurt him.

Oliver.

Now he hates me, doesn't he?

The image of the gash on his neck kept on haunting me. Patches of skin, blood and scar tissue marbling together like a sloppy mess. Chunks of crystalized blood, shining and glistening like little gems, contrasting immensely with his deathly pale – almost grey – paper-like skin. It made me want to vomit.

But that's what I was, I was sloppy.

I did that to him.

But why do I care?

He's a human.

This isn't normal.

I shouldn't be feeling like this, yet why do I want to be with him?

Why do I want to help him?

I'm not normal.

Right?

***

My bare feet steadily thumped against the stone stairs, creating a low beat. My hands grazed the walls as I scanned the room, searching for my next meal, yet trying ever so desperately to avoid looking at that one boy, sitting in the same corner he was yesterday. I couldn't help myself; I couldn't stop looking. The pealing skin, the clear liquid trickling down his neck, it was grossly interesting.

But why am I so grossed out?

I see stuff like this all the time.

Blood, wounds, scars,

Heck, I've even seen humans die down here and their bodies be thrown out like trash.

Yet why do I feel bad for him?

Oliver.

I was stood at the bottom of the stairs, taking in his fragile frame, the soles of his feet, stained a musty grey from the concrete, the blood soaked bandages that were piled on the floor beside him, the endless cuts and grazes decorating his face. I was dissolved completely in my own thought – his scars looked horrific – when he looked up at me and glared, his one golden eye piercing through my body.

And I saw the other half of his face.

It was something much worse than anything I had seen before, and anything I had imagined. A huge scar stretching across the majority of his face. It looked deep. Crusty dried blood and flesh peeling away, clear fluid pooling deep in the wound, the two sides of his gash being forcefully held together with two thick black threads, almost like shoelaces. Once-blond eyelashes now stained a deep maroon with blood sporadically poked out from it, some even being caught in the holes where the laces were thread.

It looked... horrific.

How did it happen?

The tears started to form in my eyes, an overwhelming feeling of empathy overtaking all my senses. His eye started to water as well, adding to the mess painting his face.

"Oll-"

His expression softened. "Don't, please."

His words sent a jolt rocketing down my spine as my whole body tensed. Thoughts and emotions flooded my head, thumping, pounding. My legs felt ready to just give way, ready to just dissolve, to break down. I heaved and cried, emotions spilling down my face, and I saw he was doing the same. I just want to hug him, hold him tight. I want to protect him, tell him that whatever he's been through, that it's going to be okay.

But that's not allowed, is it?

I turned on my heels and ran back up the stairs.

I'll have to feed another time.

***

I sat, still, silent, eyes closed, on a bench in the park next to my house, headphones on, my thoughts dissolving into the music. The walk to school should only last about 10 minutes, but this time it lasted almost half an hour. I took a slight detour and went to the park. I just wanted to clear my head is all. I had left the house earlier than usual so I wouldn't be late or anything. I just wanted some time to myself to think.

I tugged on the hem of my hoodie, trying to stay as warm as possible. (Maybe sitting outside in the middle of winter isn't the best idea) Even though the leaves swayed gently in the wind, and the plants slowly rustled, I couldn't relax. The image of Oliver's scar just kept on coming back to haunt me.

It looked nothing short of horrific.

The flesh pealing back, the crusty stitches, those wire-like eyelashes...

What happened to him?

How is he still alive?

I want to help him...

But is that wrong?

I can't really do anything to help him if he's mad at me, but I don't blame him for being mad.

I'd be pretty mad if my 'friend' came down and shredded my neck.

Who am I kidding, calling him my 'friend'

He's a human.

"God why can't I be normal!?" I screamed under my breath as I clutched my head. "Why do I care about him!?"

No, Len, stop. Crying's not gonna get you anywhere, is it?

I'm gonna get Ollie to not hate me... but how?

He's like us, right?

I kicked the stones on the path beneath me, causing them to clack together. "Why don't I know how to get him to like me!?"

I could always ask someone.

It would have to be someone not that close to me, and someone who might know a bit about this kinda thing.

Ia?

Trusting Ia's probably gonna be my downfall, isn't it?

"Woof!"

My eyes snapped open, and I catapulted back into reality from my trance, the reality of a pale yellow Labrador sitting in front of me, staring up at me with it's round black eyes. It pawed and poked at the ground as its forest green collar twinkled in the early morning sun, looking like it wanted to play.

"H-hey there," I softly spoke, gently petting it's head.

"Oh, Matcha no. Stop girl!" A brown-haired woman spoke as she hurried over to where I was sitting. She wore an autumn red jumper, a green tartan skirt that reached her knees and brown boots. She also carried a dog lead in her right hand. I guess she's the dog's owner. "So sorry about that. Matcha just loves meeting new people." She fiddled with her short chestnut hair as her similarly chestnut-coloured eyes twinkled.

"Oh, I don't mind." I replied, still dazed. "So her name's Matcha?"

She reached down to stroke her fur. "Yes, it is. She's a Labrador."

Matcha turned and rubbed her head against the palm of my hand, occasionally licking my hand. Her fur was soft and silky. It was... oddly calming, just what I needed. The woman started softly giggling to herself and I did too. Matcha clearly was happy as well; her tail wagged playfully, brushing against the stone path and she emit a few low growls, almost purrs.

Eventually, started becoming restless, broke away, and turned back to her owner. She pawed and rubbed against her legs, wining slightly as she reached for the ball in her owner's hand. "We should be going now." She spoke. "It was nice meeting you."

Matcha nuzzled my leg one last time, before she and her owner walked off through the trees.

I sighed, heaved my backpack onto my shoulder and headed to school, mumbling a song to myself, my head feeling a lot clearer.

***

Thud!

One,

Thud!

Two,

Thud!

Three,

"Len, how have you not dropped it yet?" Came Piko's voice from behind me.

Thud!

Four,

"I'm just better at tennis than you, Piks."

Thud!

Five,

I repeatedly swung the cheap tennis racket back and forth, the low bass beat of the tennis ball hitting the wall in front of me thumping in my ears. Piko stood behind me, tennis racket in hand, his expression, one of fear, probably from the tennis ball rocketing at high speeds towards us both, while Fukase casually leant against the wall, right in the line of fire.

Not much had been seen of Flower that day, as she mostly hung out with Cul, including during today's PE lesson. They stood the opposite side of the concrete court, talking and also smacking tennis balls to each other, definitely less aggressively than I was. Cul's long red hair that was tied up in a long ponytail swayed as she agilely darted around to hit the ball. Flower tried to return it but missed, and it hit the wall behind them. They laughed, giggled, together. Choruses of cheering and laughter soon followed, as Rin and Miku left their group and walked over, hand in hand.

Did they?

Thud,

Six,

Thud,

Seven,

SMACK!

Me and Piko froze where we stood, but winced as we looked over at Fukase, the source of the most ungodly squeal we had ever heard.

Fukase was bent over where he stood, tears in his eyes, clutching his crotch, the tennis ball by his feet.

That must've hurt.

"H-Hey guys," Came Rin's voice from behind me. She held Miku's hand and her cheeks were pretty heavily flushed. Not as flushed as Miku's however, who was as red as Cul's hair. "We've got something to tell you..."

"What is it?" Piko asked, ignoring Fukase who was still wincing on the floor.

Miku turned to look at Rin, and Rin looked back at Miku, who nodded. "We're dating!" They both said in unison, squeezing each other's hands even tighter.

I smirked.

Knew it.

"Wow, really? Congrats!" Piko replied.

Miku's eyes lit up and she smiled. "Thanks Piko!"

I looked my twin in the eye and smirked even harder than I already was. "I knew you were gay."

"Len you're just jealous that I'm not single anymore."

"You're both gay." Fukase sneered as he waddled over to us, still visibly uncomfortable

Rin glared at him, fiddling with her tennis racket. "Well, no shit sherlock."

Suddenly, I heard the pattering and thumping of footsteps behind me, as well as Cul's brass voice, and Flower giggling like a schoolgirl. I've never heard her laugh like that before; it was, different. "So you finally told them?" She asked as she and Flower stopped running and came to a stop standing next to us. She looked right at home on a tennis court. She was tall, athletic, bright red hair tied up in a high ponytail. She was known for being a top player in many of the sports teams, yet she wasn't very popular. I guess that was mostly due to her attitude; she could be quite bossy at times, and a bit of a lone wolf. Flower looked like a perfect match for her.

Flower panted behind her. "Hiya guys!"

"Yep we did!" Miku beamed, her happy-go-lucky personality shining through her cheerful smile.

Cul looked around at each one of us with her fiery red eyes and held her racket up to her chest. "You guys wanna play a match?"

"But there's seven of us." Rin stated. She was correct. How can you play a match of tennis with seven people? I was about to ask, but Piko did that for me.

"How do you play tennis with seven people?" he questioned.

"Three of us on each side, one being the referee." Cul answered. She picked up her racket and pointed it directly at Piko. "So, do you want to?"

Miku stopped fiddling with her hair and turned to stare at Cul. "You can't have three people on one side of the court though."

"Yeah, we can. Who says we can't?" Cul replied.

Unimpressed, Rin furrowed her brows and tapped her racket against the concrete. "Literally everyone whose ever played tennis."

"C'mon guys. It'll be fun." Flower spoke. "Anyway, it's starting to get cold and I was stupid and managed to leave my hoodie in my locker, so can we start before we all freeze? Who's down?"

"Yeah, I'm down. I'm referee though." Fukase said as he grabbed his hoodie and slumped against the low stone wall that separated the tennis courts from the rest of the sports pitches.

Rin sighed. "Fine, I'm down. Miku?"

"Yep!"

"I'll join." I said, going to find my hoodie.

"Same." Piko replied.

Everyone made their way onto the pitch, rackets in hand while I went to find my hoodie and a tennis ball. Who cares if we're playing tennis with seven people?

I could already feel the competitive fire start to burn inside me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez, keeping track of 7 different characters in one scene is hard. Flower and Len barely said anything ;;
> 
> Also Fukase's not having kids anymore
> 
> Which may actually be a good thing...


	11. Chapter 11

I stood at the top of the stairs, my hand tightly gripping the top of the light wooden banister. My thoughts frantically tossed and turned in my head as I froze in place, eyes closed, my body not moving a single inch.

I could do this.

I could do this.

I just need to go down and talk to him.

It's not that hard.

Tentatively, I reached my foot out so it hovered a couple inches above the first step.

I can do this. Just go down there and apologise to him.

I slowly lowered my foot as I steadily breathed in and out, trying to calm my inner turmoil. It was about to touch the step. I was about to go down there and talk to him. I could apologize. We could finally sort this mess out.

But my worries caught up to me, and I instantly hesitated.

I retracted my foot with a slight yelp, taking a deep breath and sighing as I backed away, leaning my forehead against the cold painted wall, the contrast in temperature from my heated body making me flinch slightly. My legs threatened to buckle underneath me, and my mouth felt dry like sandpaper. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it.

"Why am I even scared in the first place!?" I shouted under my breath to myself. "Why do I care so much!?"

My cheeks promptly flushed a deep shade of red and my eyes widened as I realised that I already knew what the answer was.

I really do.

I really do like him, don't I?

Slowly, I peeled myself away from the wall and stood back at the top of the staircase. A staircase that now looked much darker and less inviting than before, like a black hole leading to my end. I was back at square one; This time feeling a lot more disheartened.

Len, you can do this.

You can do this.

And you better do this because either Mum or Rin's gonna walk into the room any second now.

What's the worst that could happen?

Tapping my foot on the floor, I tried to ease my thoughts, reducing my breathing to a gentle steady rhythm. I shook my head, trying to get rid of all the distractions.

I'm going to count to three. When I get to three, I'm gonna run down the stairs and talk to him, talk to Oliver, no hesitation.

One,

I can do this.

Two,

I just need to talk to him.

Three,

I just need to go down those stairs.

Go.

My feet started running, no hesitation. My hands grazed the walls like they usually did. I was doing it. I was going to talk to him. I was going to talk to Oliver. An overwhelming feeling of joy crashed through me as my feet thumped down the steps, the steps down to the Blood Bank.

However, this joy all but vanished as I saw everything once again.

Oliver seemingly hadn't moved since this morning, as he was sat in the exact same corner of the room. Tears still painted pale and lifeless face, and he was still sitting with his black against the wall, hugging his knees to his chest, but thankfully his cuts hadn't gotten any worse. They were still horrendous and heart-breaking, deep and bloody, but they didn't look infected, but if I don't do something that could very well become a possibility.

I quickly averted my eyes as I realised I'd been staring, and Oliver turned to look at the wall as did the same.

I've made it this far.

I can't back out now.

Being cautious, I carefully walked over and sat down cross-legged next to him. My blush was stubborn and refused to leave, only getting worse. "H-hey Oliver." I mumbled, not looking at him.

He looked up and I could see his face, damp with tears, but I received no answer. He just stared blankly at me.

"Oliver, I'm sorry. I really am. I just want you to talk to me, please."

He buried his face back into his knees, as I heard faint muffled crying. Suddenly his head snapped up and our eyes met, his engulfed in built up rage. "How can I believe you?! How can I believe that you won't do it again?!" He shouted, loud enough to be heard from upstairs. "I trusted you, Len!"

I was taken aback by his words. They hurt, a lot, but they're true, aren't they? He trusted me and I betrayed him. The scar on his neck was all the evidence I needed. I put my hands in my lap and tensed, my eyes starting to water. What's to say I won't do it again? "I don't... I don't know, but I'm sorry Oliver."

"But you're not, are you?!" He continued. His voice strained and raspy. "You're just gonna do it again!"

My mind began to spin, soon coming up with an idea.

It seemed risky, but...

I reached out and pulled his fragile body into a tight hug, expecting rejection, but that didn't happen. He tightly wrapped his arms around me in return and buried his tear-stained face into my chest. He lightly nuzzled it, which seemed to calm him down. He barely weighed anything; my hands traced the contours of his tiny back. I could feel his ribs jutting out through his skin. I could feel every bone. He was so skinny, so tiny.

"Ollie..."

"Why do you care so much about me?" He heaved into my chest. "Just let me die I can't take it anymore." Ollie looked up and his eyes locked with mine. I could see the tears streaming down his face, the immense pent up pain and sadness in that one beautiful golden eye. His body shook and trembled, like he was just going to collapse any second.

"I don't know, but I... I really do care about you, Ollie." I replied staring back, feeling his tiny body tremble in my hands.

"But, how do I know that's true?"

I lightly caressed his cheek, tracing the outline of his jaw as my heart started to thump heavily in my chest. Moving his tangled hair away from his face, I whispered. "I can prove it to you."

"What do you-"

He didn't have time to respond, as I bent down and placed my lips onto his. Was it an impulsive decision? Yes. Was it wrong? Probably so, but at that point I didn't care. He gasped and squeaked in surprise, his eyes going wide, but he soon closed his eye and happily kissed back.

That... actually worked. I was shocked, and so unbelievably happy. I wasn't expecting him to kiss back! He actually likes me!

We pulled each other closer, our bodies tighter. I could feel his heartbeat flutter wildly against mine. I gently held his face, dissolving into the feeling of his lips on mine. They were soft, so gentle, so wonderful. He clutched the fabric of my t-shirt, his entire face as red as mine. I savoured the taste of his lips, the feeling of his skin, the warmth and tightness of our bodies. There wasn't even an inch between us.

Who cares if he's a human?

Who cares if this isn't allowed?

I want to protect him, and nothing's going to change that.

But soon, oh so soon, he pulled back and leant his head against my chest, and stayed there, hugging me tight and nuzzling against me like a little kitten, a very embarrassed mess of a kitten.

"Did you like that?" I asked, ruffling his hair.

"Mhm" He mumbled into my chest. "It was weird though."

I bent down and placed a light kiss on the top of his head. "I'm glad."

We sat for a bit in the comforting silence, enjoying each other's embrace, when Ollie perked up and stared me in the eye, the inner pain and sadness returning. "Len, I can't take it anymore. I just want to leave. I just want to get out."

"It's gonna be okay I promise. I'm gonna help you." I whispered as I trailed my fingers along the scar on his neck.

"Help me how?" He questioned, tilting his head, his eye widening. "Is there any way you could get me out?"

Is there? Is there any way I could get him out safely? Wait... no, that wouldn't work, would it?

"I think I've got a plan. I don't think you'll like it much though."

Ollie seemed to eagerly bounce a little when he heard that. "What is it?"

"Well..." I started. "Your blood's really good, so if I go at your neck and injure it again, I could ask my parents to let you stay in the house so you can heal better and be used for feeding again." God, it really does sound bad when I say it aloud.

"Would that really work? When would I be fed off again?" He asked keenly, like he completely ignored that the plan involved me tearing at his neck again. Even looking at it now made me feel sick. Would I even be able to stomach feeding off him again? Could I even bite into that mess?

"I think it could. You wouldn't be fed off again for a couple weeks at least."

"Then bite me, Len!" He shouted, looking me directly in the eye. "Do whatever you have to! I want to get out of here!" The sheer joy and innocence in his voice, I couldn't do it, could I? He wanted this. This was his decision to make, but I just, I couldn't do that to him again. He didn't deserve it, but if it really could get him out...

"O-Okay, if you're really okay with this..." I mumbled, trying to pull myself together. He nodded. "Okay, I'll be as gentle as I can."

With one final caress of his jaw, one final look deep into his eye, and one final tear as I looked at his innocent face, I plunged my fangs deep into the mess of scar tissue on his neck. He yelped and flinched, squirming as I tried to find a hold in the marbling flesh and blood. Eventually, I found one, and I started sucking as quickly yet as gently as I could; I wanted this to be as quick and as painless as possible for him. His blood gushed into my mouth, and even though I really didn't want to be doing this, I couldn't deny his blood still tasted as good as it had the first time I fed off him, which, even though it was less than a week ago, felt like an eternity. Oliver rested his head on my shoulder, coughing and whimpering, his fresh tears dampening the fabric of my t-shirt. I started to cry as well. He didn't deserve this, and he will never deserve this for as long as he lives. No one deserves to go through this.

I looked around at all the other innocent people in the Blood Bank. Even though they weren't as young as Ollie, they were still innocent. They shouldn't have had to go through this. I just happily fed off them, not caring, but they had lives, they had others who were worried about them, yet I didn't do anything about it, and now they're brain dead, collapsed on the floor. They're not even people anymore. They're just empty husks stripped from their lives, just so we could feed. Some have even died, their families never knowing what happened to them. We're just selfish. Abusing our powers so we could fulfil our desires. Humans aren't just objects; they're just like us.

I cried into Oliver's neck.

No one deserves to go through this.

I was going to help all of them, not just Oliver.

Soon Ollie's eyes closed, and his small body went limp. I immediately broke away and swallowed the last of his blood, wiping my mouth on my arm. I held Oliver in my arms, crying as I watched his chest heave up and down. I placed a hand on his chest, feeling his heart thump rhythmically beneath my palm.

He really didn't last long, huh?

I stared at his unconscious body for a while, and the even messier wound on his neck, then pulled myself together.

Remember Len, you did this for a reason.

I bent over him, staring at his face one last time, before I placed a kiss on the top of his head, and whispered a couple words into his ear before I scurried back up the stairs to find my mum.

"I love you, Ollie."


	12. Chapter 12

Thumping, pounding, leaping, my heart beat with excitement as I sprinted up the stairs. I completely ignored the fact that I probably had blood all over my face, someone could've very well heard me and Ollie talking, or that I didn't have a clear idea on what I'm going to say next. My only focus was on the sound of my feet rhythmically hitting the floor, and the joy pooling in my chest.

It actually worked.

The plan worked.

This is working.

All I have to do now is ask Mum to let him stay in the house.

Simple.

But the worry and dread soon caught up to me, and I stopped dead in my tracks, the air suddenly becoming colder, the hazy sunlight casting onto my face from the windows all but disappearing. The world seemed to stop for a minute, cold, frozen, as the reality of the situation crashed over me like a wave.

What if she says no?

What if Rin teases me about this?

I injured Ollie pretty badly; what if he...?

"Len?"

I flinched, my mum's voice sounding like a shockwave pulsing through my ears, snapping me out of my thoughts as I realised where I was. I was in the living room, standing in front of my mum and Rin, who were both watching tv. The sound of the it finally registering in my brain. My bare feet clawed at the floor, slowly taking in the feeling of the soft carpet beneath them as I cleared my head. Was I really going to do it? Was I really going to ask the question?

Len, we've gotten this far. Don't back out now.

I twiddled my fingers behind my back, and took a deep breath.

"Mum, you know the small blond boy downstairs?" I timidly averted my eyes, blushing as my voice cracked and wavered. Thankfully, no one noticed. Rin barely even looked up from her phone.

"Yes, what about him?"

I stood awkwardly where I was, and cleared my throat, this time looking directly at her as I spoke, my confidence increasing. I could do this. I could really do this. "He's looking really bad. Would you mind looking at him?"

The sofa creaked as my mum slowly got up, switching the tv off. She sighed. "How bad?"

"Pretty bad..."

Finally, Rin looked up from her phone, only to deviously smirk right at me, an evil glint in her deep blue eye. "What's Len done now?"

"Nothing!" I squeaked, putting on the most innocent expression I could, pretending that I didn't just go down there and feed of Oliver once again.

"Okay, I'll look at him."

I lead the way as we all head down. My mum walked behind me, and lastly Rin trailed behind, still clutching her phone. The palms of my hands grew sweaty as my heartbeat quickened. No, Len, calm down. It's fine. Everything's fine. I reached out to my side to try to run my hand against the wall in an attempt to calm my nerves but was only met with still silent space. We were already down in the Blood Bank, and Ollie's unconscious body soon came into view. He was curled up on the concrete, just how I had left him, eyes closed, asleep.

He looked... almost peaceful

His scars and wounds leaked, dripping blood and liquid down his face. The scar tissue on his neck was mangled, actually his entire neck was, and that's where my mum and Rin's eyes darted towards first. My mum walked over to where Oliver was lying, and sat down next to him, running a hand over his wounds, while Rin still stood where she was.

"Len, did you feed off him again?" Rin questioned.

"N-No!" I replied instantly, bouncing up and down on my heels. "Anyway, how does he look?"

My mum turned back to look at me, not a single shred of emotion in her eyes. "Pretty bad. If these get infected, he'll certainly die."

Is it possible for someone's entire world to come crashing down on top of them in a single second? Well I think I just figured that out, and the answer is yes. I felt my heart snap in half in my chest, and a huge weight fall on top of me. My legs felt like they would just buckle underneath me. This can't- It can't-

Ollie...

The emotions built up in my brain, in my entire body, but I kept them hidden. I didn't show them.

I couldn't show them.

I wasn't allowed to show them.

I'm not allowed to feel this way about him.

I tried my hardest to stop the tears from falling, from dripping onto the concrete below, while repressing the urge to involuntarily shake. I forced out a response. Hopefully, no one will think anything's wrong. "B-But he's too good to have die now!"

Getting up and brushing her hands on her skirt, my mum turned to face me. "I know sweetie, but his wounds look really bad."

"But can we keep in the house or something so he can heal?"

"Len, he's a human. You don't really want some disgusting human in the house, do you? And where would he sleep? It would take a lot of effort to keep him upstairs."

"But it'll be worth it! He tasted really good." I cried, getting desperate. If I couldn't get him out of the Blood Bank, the plan would fail, and if the plan failed, Ollie's wounds would probably get infected, and if Ollie's wounds got infected- "He can sleep on the sofa or even in my room if you want!" Wait- what. I panicked. What did I just say? I blushed at that last line. Ollie... sleeping in the same bed as me? I couldn't deny how much I'd enjoy that. It would be so nice, and maybe I could...

Wait, no, Len, get your mind out the gutter this instant.

"I don't even know how good he tasted," Rin remarked as she glared at me. "Because someone kept on shredding his neck!"

"Thinking back, I haven't fed off him either"

"Then we should keep him so you can try. He's really good. I promise!" I was getting really desperate. Just say yes, please. That's all I want.

Silence.

A daunting silence spawning from all my pent-up worries and fears.

I held my breath.

"Okay, but only if he sleeps in your room and you take most of the responsibility for him. This was your idea after all."

I breathed, and overwhelming joy coursed through me.

It worked!

The plan worked!

It's going to be okay!

He's going to be okay!

But of course, that little voice in the back of my head whispered to me.

"No one said he's going to be okay. His neck's still shredded. You still did this to him."

Rin pouted. "I guess we have a human in the house now. Just don't bring him anywhere near me, okay?" She said as she headed back upstairs, leaving just me and my mum.

"Are you fine taking him upstairs to your room?" She asked

I assured her I would. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Good, also let him change into some of your old clothes or something."

"Yep, okay." I said, trying to hide my returning blush.

And with that, she headed back up the stairs, leaving me, and Oliver's unconscious body.

He hadn't moved since when we came in, let alone twitched or stirred. This can't be too hard. Can it? I looked down at his sleeping face, so... blank, so precious, then carefully bent down and scooped him up in my arms. I stumbled slightly from the extra weight, but soon balanced myself and headed upstairs.

I hadn't gotten very far, when I felt something move. I looked down, and saw Oliver slowly open his eye, and drowsily stare up at me, confused.

"Len?"

"How are you awake so quickly?" I blurted out without thinking. Maybe that wasn't the best first thing to say...

Thankfully, he didn't question it, asking something much more practical instead. "What are you doing?"

"The plan worked!" I whispered. "You're staying upstairs!"

The smile that appeared on his face was almost comical, but it was adorable, even on his bruised and bloody face.

"Where am I sleeping?"

The dreaded blush couldn't seem to leave me alone today, as it decorated my face once again. This is embarrassing. "M-My room..." I stuttered.

His smile turned into a look of surprise, before his nuzzled deep into my chest, letting out a slight incoherent mumble as he fidgeted in my arms. I guess he's still a bit foggy.

Well, he has just woken up after all.

I let him do as he wished as I snuck past my family, completing the rest of the trip to my bedroom in silence.

***

I had already placed Oliver on the bed and fished through my draws for a t-shirt and a pair of boxers for Ollie before he finally opened his eye. James had seemed to take an interest in him, as he sat on Ollie's torso, staring at his face, almost like they knew each other. Oliver tossed and turned in my bed, before his eye shot open from one specific sound.

James chirping.

"James?!" he exclaimed, as James flew into his arms, burying his body into Ollie's chest. Oliver sat there, in complete shock, before he and James embraced in the most loving and raw embrace I had ever witnessed. There were tears, raw, pure emotions, and the tightest hug I had ever seen. It was almost like they... knew each other? "Oh James, you're alive!"

James happily tweeted and flew around, landing on the top of Oliver's head. He giggled to himself, reaching up and placing James in his arms to give him a tight hug.

"Huh?" I questioned. Surely not. Surely, he's not the James he was talking about. But, they seem to know each other. By some mysterious power from god-knows-where, Rin and Miku had just happened to find Oliver's James, and give him to me. The only word to describe myself in that moment, was utterly utterly confused.

His wide eyes beamed at me after the embrace had calmed down, now being a tender hug. "Len, how did you-?"

I sat down on the edge of the bed, my head still spinning. "I don't know Ollie. I honestly don't know. Rin and Miku found a bird outside and said I could keep it."

"So, James followed me here?"

"Yeah, I guess." Wait, does he remember being taken here? And how did James follow him here? Mum says that this place is ages away from where the humans live. How could one bird follow him here? "Oliver, what do you remember about being brought here?"

"I-uh, well, it was the middle of the night, and I woke up because I heard some noise. I got up to see what it was, but then I saw this tall, dark figure. He came up to me, then said something to me... and that's all I remember."

Wait, he said something to you? I'm assuming that the figure was my dad, but why would he say anything? He doesn't have any need to. It doesn't make any sense... "Ollie, what did he say to you?"

"I-I don't remember, but he was smirking, and then he reached out to grab my waist or something. I don't know; it's all hazy." He answered, uncomfortable.

He really doesn't remember anything? And my dad, grabbed him? Why? And that still leaves the other big question unsolved. Why did my dad bring back a child in the first place? That isn't normal...

Maybe I should just stop thinking about this for tonight. I have school tomorrow after all. "Anyway, it's getting late. We should go to sleep. I've got you some clothes if you want to change." I said as I handed him the clothes I had picked out.

Oliver placed James back on the bed and turned to look at me. "Should I just change here?" He questioned.

"Y-Yeah-" Wait what- No- Len what the hell did you just say?! He can't just change in front of you!

And with that, Ollie turned around, and started to strip. My cheeks flushed the brightest they had that day, and so I looked down, trying to keep my eyes to myself.

Okay, just calm down. All you have to do is not look.

Can't be too hard.

I sat there, for what seemed like forever, my mind panicking. I couldn't stop thinking about him. I couldn't stop thinking about what he looked like... naked. And I could look. I could just turn around and see him.

I scrunched up my eyes as tight as I could, gripping the bedsheets, but the urge was just too strong.

Just one little look won't hurt, right?

I slowly turned around and saw everything I had hoped for. Oliver's slender pale body, standing there. I didn't look for long, but I looked long enough to work out that he was, completely naked. I saw the curve of his back and his tiny ass, but I also saw his scars, the bloody bruises and scars that decorated his body. His ribs also jutted out from his skin, only adding to how skinny and malnourished he looked.

I couldn't have turned round at a better, or worst, time.

Immediately, I averted my eyes, a wave of guilt washing over me, but it was too late, as I felt the familiar tickling heat creep in between my legs. I reached down to hide it and was greeted by a little tent in my shorts.

Fuck.

I quickly changed my clothes snuck under the covers while making sure to not look. I had seen way more than I should've already. Hopefully he won't notice my little problem.

Eventually, Oliver turned back round, and I couldn't help but stare at him. My t-shirt was too big for him, and loosely hung off his shoulder, exposing his neck and collarbone. He climbed into bed with me and seemed to melt into the sheets and pillows. Much to my dismay, he nuzzled right into my back, hugging my waist, practically spooning me, which definitely didn't help the situation in between my legs.

This must feel like bliss to him; he's been sleeping on solid concrete for a week.

James nuzzled in between us both, falling peacefully asleep, and Oliver soon followed. I shut my eyes as well, and tried my hardest to relax, to fall adream.


	13. Chapter 12.5

My eyes drowsily fluttered open, and I was greeted by the dark void that was my bedroom ceiling, my body resting on the mattress, and a heavy weight on my chest. I blinked, staring into the darkness for a few seconds before my mind finally started to catch up with my body.

What time is it?

Slowly, I turned my head to search for the only light in the room, my alarm clock. It hazily glowed 1:04am.

Why am I up this early?

As my thoughts gradually started to become more coherent, I started to notice how much I struggled to breath. I looked down in a panic, suddenly becoming much more awake than I ever was, and saw a messy head of golden, almost brown, hair, and a tiny pale hand resting on my chest, mumbling, nuzzling, and slightly drooling on to the fabric of my t-shirt. I pulled the covers down to expose Ollie’s head, and gently fed my hand through his messy hair. He really does look so peaceful when he’s asleep, his pale complexion, gently lit by the moonlight, his closed eyelid, covered by those long, delicate lashes, his mouth, slightly parted. I stared at him for who knows how long, admiring his features, before my hand found it’s way trailing down his tiny body, caressing his stomach and ribs, before coming to rest at his waist.

He really has to be cuddling me like this, huh?

His skin was paper-like, yet soft and warm as I roamed his back, soon being joined with my other hand as I started to trace the ridge of his spine. A few low hums and incoherent mumbles escaped his lips, and he rubbed and nuzzled my chest, almost cat-like.

I brought my face down to the top of his head, nuzzling him back while placing gentle kisses to his golden mop of hair. “Can’t say you’re not adorable though.” I whispered under my breath, barely audible in the silent room. “I wonder what it would be like doing these things to you when you’re awake, maybe when we’re out in public. I wonder what it would be like if this was allowed.” Closing my eyes, I pressed another kiss to the top of his head and traced the waistband of his underwear. “I bet it would be amazing…”

A steady flow of air heaved in and out of my nose, my mind far gone, now reduced to a hazy mist. I looked down at his innocent sleeping expression one last time, before slipping my palm down and around his bulge, the only thing getting in the way being the thin fabric of his boxers. I loudly hummed, almost a moan, as I delightfully squeezed and rubbed my own thighs together in pleasure.

“Mgmh… Len?”

I froze, all the pent up lust that had been accumulated from the night before being replaced by a huge flood of panic. My rational mind also returned, and I felt a wave of guilt sinking to the bottom of my chest like a rock.

I quickly removed my hand from his crotch and placed it back on his hip.

“Len, what are you doing?” he asked, his voice mumbled and filled with sleep.

I averted my eyes and stared off into some corner of my dark bedroom, cursing myself for touching him like that. What was I thinking? I just assaulted him. I basically raped him. Just because he was lying on top of me. I’m never going to forget about this no matter how hard I try. “N-Nothing. Let’s just go back to sleep, okay?”

“Mhm,” He responded, continuing to rub his head against my chest. He fidgeted a bit, accidentally grinding against my erection as he did so. I placed my arms around him in a cuddle, closed my eyes once again, and tried to fall back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well.....
> 
> Yeah
> 
> I'm sorry if you don't like this chapter because of the fact that Len just sexually assulted a sleeping Oliver, but it happened, and now I need to change the archive warnings


	14. Chapter 13

"Len," Oliver questioned as he sat on the edge of my bed and swung his legs back and forth. "What happened last night?"

The question caught me off guard, making me stop in my tracks as I was about to reach for my hoodie. I kicked myself for being so shocked. I should've seen this question coming. He woke up when I did... that, didn't he? "I don't know Ollie. Did something happen?" I lied. How else was I meant to respond? He was barely awake anyway, so hopefully he wouldn't remember much.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oliver bring his knees together, closing his legs. Whether he did it consciously or not, I couldn't tell, but the guilt rose in my chest all the same. I still couldn't comprehend how I did that to him last night, how I managed to think that it was okay. Sure it felt good for a second, but still, it was wrong, and if anyone else found out that I touched a human like that, and enjoyed it, I can't even think of what would happen.

He fiddled with the back of the fresh bandages I had put on him that morning and averted his eye. "O-oh, just forget about it. I must've dreamt it or something."

Ignoring all the thoughts of last night, I pulled on hoodie, grabbed my bag and headed for my bedroom door. "I'm gonna go downstairs now, then I need to go to school, so I'll see you at lunchtime, okay?"

"Are you going to feed?"

However, his words and the much colder tone that they were spoken in made me stop dead in my tracks, preventing me from leaving the room as quick as I really would've liked. "Y-yeah," I replied sheepishly. "Sorry,"

As soon as the words left my mouth, his faced perked up and the serious tone in his voice had completely vanished. "No don't be! Just... be gentle, okay?"

I reached out to trail my fingers along his scars, but he moved out of the way, still not looking me in the eye. That little ping of rejection jabbed into my chest. What was I thinking? He certainly seems to remember last night, so of course he wouldn't want me to touch him. He was quite tense when I put the bandages on him this morning as well.

"Okay," I forced out, and I rushed out the door, completely missing his sad little frown as I left.

***

I couldn't keep track of anything Piko, Fukase and Flower were saying as we made the usual journey to school. Fukase and Flower jokingly elbowing each other in the sides like they always did, and Piko walking next to them, but this time, I just kept fiddling with the strap on my bag, thinking, thinking about everything. If we really did become a couple, what would happen? How would it work? Would it even work?

I was pretty certain I knew the answer to that last question.

It wouldn't work. He's a human and I'm a vampire. It was never meant to work.

And with me doing that to him last night, I ruined any chances of it working even if it did have a chance.

But still, maybe there is hope.

"Len, are you alright? You seem kinda down."

I looked up to see Piko walking next to me instead of alongside Fukase and Flower, a concerned look on his face. "I've never seen you this quiet before. You've hardly said a word today."

I put on my best fake grin and replied. "Yeah I'm fine."

But he didn't seem to believe that smile for even a second. "Okay... Well if you need to talk or anything, I'm here."

"Yeah, I know."

Eventually, we turned into the school gates, and a sense of relief washed over me. Now, hopefully this can take my mind off things for a few hours. Piko and Fukase walked in front, with Flower even more ahead as she ran up to meet Cul, who was leaning against one of the walls on her phone. I was about to follow them, when I felt a firm yet familiar tap on my shoulder.

It was Rin.

"Len, we need to talk. Meet me outside the sports hall after school's ended. Make sure you're there, and make sure you're alone." She whispered directly into my ear, her voice more cold and serious than I had ever heard it before.

"What? Why?" I responded. Why would she want to talk to me? In private and where no one could hear us no less.

Her crystal blue eyes glared at me, before she said two last sentences and walked away. "I'm not saying here. Just meet me after school, because we need to talk."

I stood there for a few seconds, dumbfounded. What would she need to talk about?

Unless...

No, that can't be it-

But what else could it be?

"Len! Hurry up!" Piko shouted. I snapped out of my daze, adjusted my bag, and chased after him, soon finding Fukase, Flower, and Cul waiting outside our lockers.

"What took you guys so long?" Fukase questioned as he leant against the wall alongside Flower. Cul huddled over Flower's phone, the both of them giggling at whatever was on the screen. Probably memes, as I've learnt from years of experience being her friend.

I ignored their obnoxious snorting and hurriedly shoved my books in my bag. "Rin wanted to talk to me, nothing much."

"What did she want to talk about?"

"She asked to meet me after school to talk about something. I don't know what it's about."

"That sounds kind of suspicious." Fukase replied, looking up from his phone.

Piko seemed to agree with him. "Yeah, it really does. Maybe she wants to talk about Miku or something?"

"I doubt she would go to me for relationship advice."

"Yeah, we all know how Len is with his non-existent boyfriend." Flower joked.

I was about to respond when Piko spoke. "Anyway, Len, hurry up or we're going to be late."

I sighed and scooped the last of my books into my bag. "Yeah, yeah."

***

My feet thumped against the stone below me as I walked, looking up at the trees at the same time. I panted from running from the last lesson of the day, which happened to be maths, and happened to have finished late. I grabbed the straps of my bag as I slowed down to a walk, a blonde, blue-eyed figure soon coming into view. Hopefully I wasn't too late. Rin would get pretty mad if I was.

She stood against the wall of the sports hall, relaxed, staring down at the floor, her golden hair still neatly pinned out her face with those signature bobby pins of her's. She didn't look mad. She looked... almost nervous, as she took a deep breath before fiddling with her skirt and greeting me, her eyes still not fully looking me in the face.

"Len." She spoke, her tone a weird mix between authoritative and a sigh.

"Yeah? What did you want to talk to me about-"

"We need to talk."

Yeah, I get that. You've said it about three times today.

"About what?"

She stared at me, dark eyes piercing into my soul. "I know what you've been doing with that human."

I was speechless.

She knows? How much? How? What?

I stood, gawking. I tried to speak but no words came out. She knows. She knows about Oliver.

"I-"

"Len, I know you've been down there. I know you've been talking to him. I don't know what your goal is, but you need to stop."

My brain was on autopilot, unable to handle all the information being hurled at it from left, right, and centre. She knows. She knows I've been talking to him. I've been caught doing the one thing that vampires aren't allowed to do. The one rule that's been drilled into us for as long as I can remember. I broke it. I talked to a human, and even worse, I kissed one. I touched one. I have feelings for one. Unable to think of anything better, I impulsively forced out a response. "Why shouldn't I talk to him?!" I shouted, immediately regretting my decision, while being thankful that Rin had chose quite a private location for this conversation to happen.

"Len, I don't think you understand how serious this is. He's a human. This is the one thing we're not allowed to do. This could get your whole life ruined! If anyone else ever found out your entire life, everything, will be ruined! I care about you, Len! I don't want it to end this way!" She heaved, tears streaming down her face. I could only stand frozen where I stood, holding her as she hugged me tightly. My own eyes stared to water as I looked down at her and finally realised how serious this really was.

My whole life really could be ruined because of this.

That one silly little decision I made.

"Rin, I-"

After a while she pulled her face away from my shoulder, looking at me with face a mess and her hair ruined. Her entire face glowed a hazy auburn as the late sun shone on us. My hoodie was wrinkled and slightly damp from the tears, but I didn't care enough to notice. "Len, just please. Just stop now while you can. I really do care about you. I would blame myself if you ever get found out and sent away somewhere. Please Len, that's all I want. I just want you to stop."

Pulling her closer to me, I hugged her back. "Rin, I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I need you to believe me. Everything we know about humans is wrong. They're like us."

"No, no, no, Len! That's wrong. They're just objects. I don't why you care so much but it's wrong. This is what I was scared of! Len you shouldn't be feeling like this! This isn't right!" She almost shouted as she completely broke down.

"Rin, I swear I'm correct. You just need to talk to-"

Rin turned and ran. She grabbed her bag and sprinted to the nearest gate, still crying and wheezing as she did. I would've chased after her if I could just comprehend what was happening a little quicker, or if my entire body didn't feel like giving out beneath me. I sank down to the floor, my back and my head resting against the wall, and I just cried. I cried and thought.

I really have just ruined my entire life.

Everything.

This isn't allowed.

This isn't right.

It will never be right.

Seeing Rin's face like that.

This really is serious.

Maybe I should just stop.

Stop while I still can...

But I've already worked so hard.

Maybe everything I thought...

Is wrong?


	15. Chapter 14

Staring down at my feet the entire time, I walked home alone, my thoughts whizzing in my head even when I fished in my pockets for my keys, opened the door, and was about to walk inside, but not before my mind decided to stop me, the recent events that were happening were enough to make my head spin and my legs feel like they were going to collapse.

All these thoughts, all these decisions, all these choices. I barely knew what was right and what was wrong anymore.

Surely what I was taught should be correct. All humans are just objects. They don't think. They don't feel. They're just tools for us to use. That's what everyone knows and has know for centuries. Where did that rule even come from? Who even decided it? Has anyone even ever tried to talk to a human before?

But it's the rule that everyone follows and has followed. No one has a problem with it, so why me?

Why does it have to be me that's weird?

Why did I have to like him?

I breathed in, then out. Listening to the sounds of the wind as I stood outside my front door, I calmed myself.

So, what am I going to do now?

Talking to Rin would probably be a good idea, so would be having a chat to Ollie.

I thought about it for a moment, but the thought of talking to Oliver made a pit of dread sink down in my stomach. A pit of dread that then slithered and snaked all the way up my body and into my chest, wrapping around my heart and squeezing it tightly. That would definitely be a difficult conversation. Especially with what's been happening between us. Does he even still like me? I definitely wouldn't if someone touched me while I was asleep. I wouldn't even dare to look them in the eye anymore, but for Oliver, that isn't a possibility. He's stuck here. Stuck with me. Stuck with a monster.

Pushing the thought out of my head, I headed inside to go find Rin.

The house felt still, silent, as it usually did. That was however, except for two muffled voices coming from the living room. I unconsciously listened as I slowly treaded up the stairs while simultaneously reaching behind me to try to grab the slippery little zipper on my backpack. Suddenly one of the voices got louder, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

They were the distinctive voices of my mum and dad.

"But how could you let him stay in the house?! How could you let something so disgusting and vile into my house?!"

I cautiously treaded my way back down the stairs and along the corridor until I came to the doorway leading into the living room. As I peaked my head round, I saw exactly what I was expecting. My mum and dad, arguing.

"He's just a child. Just take sympathy on him for one moment, please? Have you even seen his neck? It's horrendous. We can't just let him die!"

"But he's a human! Do you realise what will happen if anyone else finds out we're keeping him in here?! Sleeping in the same bed as my son, no less!"

"He's just a small boy! I don't why you brought him back in the first place. What do you have against him?"

"B-Because- Look I have my reasons!"

I stood there, utterly confused.

They're talking about Oliver?

But why does my mum seem to care so much about him?

She doesn't care about humans like I do, does she?

Lost in my own thoughts, I just stared. I just stood, staring, thinking, my mind whizzing round at 1000 miles per hour, and feeling slightly guilty that I was eavesdropping on my parents. They're talking about Oliver. She's defending Oliver. How much did she know, if any? How much does Rin know about this? The mess of thoughts just kept whirling around my head. That was until I got flung back into reality by the sound of my mum's voice.

"Oh, hello Len. How was school?" She said, calmly, smiling at me as she and my dad stared at me, that was still poking their head out very suspiciously from the doorframe.

I quickly stood back up straight and composed myself, brushing and smoothing out my clothes. "I-It was good, thanks." I smiled. "Anyway, do you know where Rin is?"

My mum carefully sat down on the sofa and reached for the tv remote, while my dad still stood there, silent and eyebrows still furrowed in slight anger. "She's out with Miku. She said she's going to be back later tonight." She said.

I smirked. Out with Miku, huh? Little did my mum know that Rin and Miku were dating, and that little outing they're on is most certainly a date. However, the smugness soon vanished as I realised. Since Rin's out, that means I'll have to talk with Oliver tonight. I internally sighed to myself. Why did I have to talk to him now? Why did Rin have to be out?

I put on the best fake smile I could, "Okay!" before picking up my backpack and heading back up the stairs.

I slowly pushed open my bedroom door, not knowing what I was expecting to see. What I was greeted with however, was Oliver sitting on my bed, wearing, like yesterday, one of my t-shirts and a pair of my boxers, but this time his hair was slightly damp, probably from the shower, as he was also not wearing any bandages. He held James in his hands, stroking him, petting him, cuddling him, all while he quietly giggled to himself, not paying attention to any of his scars. He looked adorable, which only made me feel worse about the serious conversation I was about to have with him.

"H-Hey Ollie?" I called, peeking my head out from around the door. He immediately perked his head up and looked at me as he placed James down on the bedsheets. "Can we talk for a moment?"

"Mhm, what do you want to talk about?" he asked.

I dropped my bag onto the floor and sat next to him on the edge of the bed. "Well... I just wanted to know if you still like me."

A small mumble escaped his lips, just loud enough for me to hear. "Well not very much after you did that to me."

"You remember that?"

A burning anger seemed to flicker in Oliver's one remaining eye. An anger so big and built-up that it threatened to spill out and over into the air, and it did. Oliver stood up on his knees, brows furrowed, fists tightening around the bedsheets below him in rage, and he screamed. "Of course I remember that! I woke up during it! Did you think I wouldn't remember it! Len you raped me!" He shouted, making sure to put as much emphasis on that last sentence as he could.

"Ollie..." I replied, all words having escaped me. I couldn't respond. I didn't know how to respond. All I felt was guilt. A slithery guilt that twisted and turned around my chest like a snake, squeezing my organs.

"Len, why did you do it?!" He carried on. His voice so raw with unrelenting emotion that I tensed and slightly shuffled backwards. But why was I afraid of him? I was older than him, I was stronger than him, I had fangs to defend myself, he was injured. I could easily overpower him, so why was I so scared?

"I don't know. I don't know. Ollie, I'm sorry." I whimpered, softly.

"Oh, you think sorry's gonna help it?! Len, I'm scared of you! I'm scared you're gonna do something else to me while I'm asleep! I don't feel safe around you anymore!"

I traced the outline of my fangs with my tongue, making myself bleed in the process. The metallic taste filled my mouth, and I swallowed.

That's who I am. I'm the bad guy here. I'm the one who touched him. I'm the one who fed off him. Of course I'm the one with the power. He's a human and I'm a vampire. Our every nature is pointing towards me being the predator here. That's all the world thinks of us as, predator and prey.

My chest started to tighten, and I heaved out a few tears. That's all I will ever be to him. The big bad wolf that's just using him. Nothing else will ever work. Mother nature's never going to let anything else happen.

But that kiss. We kissed. We kissed and he seemed to like it. He kissed back. He trusted me and like me enough to kiss him, but then I went and fucked it all up with my own desires. I ruined everything. Everything that could lead to us having a nice relationship.

"Ollie I'm sorry. I'm not gonna do anything else to you I promise!"

"But I can't trust you! Every time I've trusted you, you've always betrayed me! I have this scar for a reason Len! That's why you brought me up here, isn't it? Just to use me?!"

"No, Ollie, that's not- I care about you Ollie. I really do care about you, I promise."

"That's what you told me last time, but then you went and raped me!" Tears pooled in his eyes, streaking down his face as he shouted, shouted way too loud for my comfort. My parents were downstairs! They could definitely hear us talking, and they were even talking about Oliver before.

Not knowing what else to do, I put my hand on Oliver's mouth, which silenced him almost instantly. Our eyes locked, staring each other down for what seemed like forever, before Oliver brought his own hands to grip around the one covering his mouth. He stared deep into my ocean-blue eye with his own bronzy-golden one, before he bit down, HARD.

I yelped in pain and instinctively pulled my hand back to grasp it. Looking down, I saw a couple teeth-shaped marks decorating the pale flesh of my hand. But I didn't stare at my hand for long, as something else caught my attention.

Oliver was bent over, his forehead touching the bed, and he cried, wheezed, coughed into it. Tears steamed down his face as he violently shook, irregular breaths being forced out of his parted mouth, almost like manic giggling.

"Len, I just can't do this anymore. It hurts. It hurts. I just want it over."

He gradually lifted his head off the bed, exposing a huge grin that spread all the way across his face. His pupil was tensed, staring off at some random point on the bed. As he grabbed his head, he rhythmically rocked back and forth, chest shakily heaving.

"I can't do it anymore. I just can't do it anymore. Len, just kill me already. I'm begging you. I just want it all to be over."

Suddenly, his entire body just gave out, and he collapsed face-first onto the bed. He was still conscious, but he certainly wasn't okay. His rational mind had vanished, leaving only a crazed husk, shaking, shivering, completely broken.

And I did this to him.

"Ollie?!"

"I want to like you Len, but I just don't know if I can trust you. I can't trust you. I can't trust anyone." He spoke into the bedsheets, his wavering speech littered with tiny giggles and sharp inhales.

"Please Ollie."

Thump.

Thump.

I turned to the source of the noise, footsteps and a slight rustling outside my bedroom door, and I panicked.

Did someone hear us?!

I started to climb off my bed to go investigate, but I stopped and watched with intent as Oliver's breathing slowed. He rolled over onto his side curling up into a little ball, his face pale and damp. Grabbing a pillow from behind him, he closed his eyes, nestling into it. He laid there, still, silent, unmoving.

"Just leave me alone."


	16. Chapter 15

I laid still, silent, mind wandering as I embraced the feeling of the bedsheets surrounding me. They were warm, soft, comforting. Burying myself even deeper under the covers, my still-groggy eyes wandered around the room, coming to rest on Oliver's peaceful sleeping face in front of me. Warm orange light shone through the curtains and onto his face, making his hair shine and giving his skin a hazy tint. I reached my hand out to run it through his hair, to feel his soft locks, but stopped at the last moment.

Probably not the best idea.

As if he knew what I was about to do, he rolled over onto his stomach, all while making the bed let out a low creak and successfully stealing most of the blanket. He wrapped himself up like a little burrito, eye still firmly shut, and still gently snoring.

I softly giggled to myself, now feeling much, much colder than I did before, though I didn't mind. I'll let him have the blanket. He's been through enough already.

He really has been through enough already, and I caused most of it.

I was the one who-

I rolled over and sighed, clutching my knees to my body to preserve any heat I could. That's definitely not what I wanted to be thinking about for the entirety of my Saturday morning. The sunlight from outside soon faded, leaving the room a stale grey, and I swear I felt a cold breeze somewhere in the room even though the window was tightly shut.

I don't know how long I stayed there, shivering, listening to my teeth chatter, feeling the goose bumps poke my skin, but it was long enough for me to cautiously reach over Oliver to grab a stray pillow that had rolled off the bed during the night. I wrapped my arms and legs around it, hugging it close, and yet kind of wishing that it actually was Oliver instead of a pillow.

Or as warm as Oliver looked at least.

God, he just looked so warm.

The way he was curled up, face buried in the pillow he was laying on, soft smile on his flushed face...

I felt the cold prick my bare skin once again, and I sat up in annoyance.

"Well I guess I might as well get up then?" I huffed under my breath.

Still shivering as I did so, I clambered out of bed while making sure to not crush Oliver as I climbed over him. Thankfully I didn't, and I was able to slowly waddle towards my closet in silence. I took a few glances back at Oliver before I stripped, just to make sure that he was still asleep. The only response I got were a few muffled snores from his direction.

Not that I would really mind if he did see me strip...

The hoodie and sweatpants I pulled on were the warmest I owned. They were both a pale grey so my outfit wasn't very exciting to say the least. Well... if you didn't look down to see my neon yellow socks that rivalled the sun when it came to sheer brightness.

I sat back down on the edge of my bed, content as I relished in the sudden warmth. I glanced to my side at Oliver and smiled to myself before I got up and headed downstairs.

The living room was empty except for Rin sitting on the sofa, phone in hand. She stared down at it, smiling as she scrolled through something that I didn't care enough about to investigate what it was. However, as soon as I step foot in the room, she looked up and gave me the most soul-piercing death glare I had ever been victim to, and I regretted ever stepping foot in that room. It wasn't just any old death glare though, (I had already been the target of quite a few, so I knew what to expect most of the time) it was a glare that screamed "I still know what you've been doing with him, Len. You can't hide it from me.", and it went straight to my heart.

Ollie...

Did she hear what happened last night?

Looking back on it, we were quite loud. I'd be surprised if she didn't hear it.

Turning her attention back to her phone, her smile returned, and a sudden curiosity overcame me. What was she doing?

I thought for a moment, before I was snapped back to reality by another of Rin's glares. Maybe just standing in the doorway like a bit of a lemon isn't a good idea.

I regained my thoughts and sat on the sofa next to her. Crossing my legs and pulling my own phone out as a distraction, my eyes wandered to her phone screen. Through all the cracks that decorated it, there were a couple messages, each filled with little hearts and kisses, and at the top of the screen it read '💖Miku💖'.

Of course.

At least Miku's stopped harassing me now.

I sat back and sighed. What was I expecting?

Bzzt!

My eyes darted downwards to my now-lit phone screen. A single message from Fukase that vanished from the screen before I got the chance to read it. I was about to unlock my phone to look at it, when I heard a voice that caused both me and Rin to look up, a soft, gentle voice. My mum's voice.

"Me and your father are going out for a bit. You two will be okay on your own for a while, won't you?"

The fact that Fukase had even texted me vanished from my mind, and was replaced by a different question. We're being left home alone? Like the entire house to ourselves? For how long? Why??

Yet my gaze shifted towards Rin, and at the same time her's locked with mine, the same thought seemingly lodged in both our minds. I guess we now have time to talk and sort out this mess.

She smirked, but that smirk soon turning into a joyful beam as she faced my mum. "Yep we'll be fine." She answered, he eyes twinkling. "Hopefully, Len won't burn the entire house down."

A low murmur, almost growl, made it's way out of my mouth, followed by a thump and a shout from Rin as I jabbed her in the side with my elbow. "Jeez Len, I was just joking!"

My mum ignored us both. "Okay then, we'll be leaving soon. Try not to make too much of a mess."

"We won't." We echoed back in unison.

And with that, she turned and walked out the room.

Stalemate, that's what it was. A stalemate of me and Rin, both sitting on the sofa, both staring at our phones, yet both of us not paying attention to them. We were only patiently waiting, waiting for that single noise...

Click!

And there it was.

Immediately we both leapt up on to our knees, dropping our phones to the floor. We turned to face each other and hastily locked our gazes, staring each other down.

"So what have you been doing with him!?" She shouted, smirking.

"Nothing! I just don't think he deserves this!" I shouted back. If I was gonna win this war, I couldn't back down any time soon.

"He's a human! Why do you care about him so much!?" She responded, not showing any signs of backing down either.

But I stood my ground. "Just look at him Rin! He's so tiny and fragile and innocent! I don't care if he's a human! He doesn't deserve this!"

"But he's literally a human! That can't be the only reason you want to keep him alive so badly!"

Suddenly Rin paused, and she sank down on to the sofa. She stared down at the floor, before cautiously letting her gaze meet mine. "Wait, Len, you don't like, have a crush on him, do you?"

I flinched. What was I meant to say to that? I really do have a crush on him, but should I really...

I just sat where I was, a slight blush flushing my cheeks, unable to force out any coherent words. "W-Well... urrmm..."

But even that was enough for Rin to get her answer. Her eyes went wide. "Oh my god Len! You can't be doing this! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"I swear, he's like us. He's just like us. He can feel like us. I swear."

"Prove it to me."

"What! How?"

"I don't know! Bring him down here or something."

I sighed. "You really want me to go get him?"

"Yes."

"But he was sleeping..."

"If you really do care about him, you would go wake him up and prove to me that your 'boyfriend' isn't emotionless human trash that should really be dead by now."

"Fine." I mumbled, dragging myself off the sofa and out the door. "I'll go get him."

I carefully approached my bedroom door. It was quiet, really quiet. Only a few light snores could be heard through the door. The door easily pushed open, but nothing could prepare my heart for the immense cuteness of what was behind it. Oliver was curled up in the blanket like he was just half an hour ago, yet somehow this time my heart leapt at the sight.

The way he was curled up like that, so peaceful, so happy, so unbelievably cute-

It's such a shame that I have to wake him up.

It still felt slightly off to be so close to him, to touch him, especially while he was asleep, but I pushed those thoughts aside. I carefully tip-toed over to him, looked at his sleeping face, swept his bangs away from his eyes, and gently shook him.

"Oliver, Oliver, Oliver wake up,"

The calm, happy smile on his face was soon replaced by a frown. Without opening his eyes, he let out a displeased mumble, turned himself on his side, and only succeeding in burying himself deeper into the mountain of blankets.

I only smiled and gently shook him again. "Ollie, you need to wake up."

"Mhm But I don't want to..." He groaned back.

"Ollie..."

Oliver groaned again but this time rolled back over on to his back. He slightly opened his eye, pouting at me. "Why do I have to?"

"Because Rin wants to see you and I need to convince her that you're not just a mindless husk."

"Why? So you can keep me here longer and touch me again!?"

"Ollie, no. How many times do I have to tell you? I completely regret doing that to you. Please, can you just come downstairs and talk to her?"

He rolled his eye and paused, before eventually emerging from his little blanket cocoon and sitting upright. "Fine. Just stop touching me and let me change."

I absent-mindedly stared at the wall opposite until Oliver emerged from the bedroom. He had recently developed a habit where he would just look through all my draws and wear whatever he fancied. It was a weird system that always ended up in him wearing extremely mismatched clothes, but it worked and that was all that mattered. The oversized t-shirt he had decided to wear today hung and draped loosely from his shoulders, and so did the shorts he wore. It was clear he hadn't bothered to sort his hair out, neither did he bother putting on new bandages, instead exposing all his scars. They had healed quite nicely and somehow hadn't gotten infected. They still weren't pretty by any means -most of them still being covered with clumps of scar tissue- but who really cares considering the extent of some of his injuries.

He gave me a single glare with that deep caramel coloured eye of his, before walking straight past me and down the stairs. I quickly joined him by his side, and we made our way into the living room together.

The moment we crossed the threshold into the room, Rin pulled her eyes away from her phone, and instead eyed us both up and down. Oliver's face soon matched her's as he saw the disappointed look on Rin's face. I just put on the happiest smile I could, before gesturing Oliver to take a seat. Thinking it was best not to put them next to each other, I instead plonked myself down on the middle of the sofa, separating them.

"So you're the thing Len's got a crush on?" Rin growled, crossing her arms.

"Sadly, yes." He replied in almost the same tone. "Why do you look so surprised? Haven't you seen me around the house before?"

"I didn't want to waste my time looking at a disgusting human like you thank you very much. But now that I am looking at you, I'm staring to wonder even more why Len's got such a thing for you. You're so tiny and scrawny, almost like a rat, a very feminine looking rat as well. And here I was thinking Len was gay. If you had been, like, hot or something. I might have given him a slight pass, but no. Instead we got a scrawny little femboy rat. How fun." Rin sneered the last line, a disgusted look painted on her face as the words rolled on her tongue like a bad taste in her mouth. She glared at Oliver, then back at me, then back at Oliver, then stopped and smirked. "Of course, maybe your blood could make up for that. Len's told me how much he likes it, so maybe that's why he likes you so much. I haven't got the chance to taste you yet, but you're so tiny I could probably pin you down and tear into you right here and now. It wouldn't be too hard."

Before I had the chance to react, Rin leant forwards and grabbed Oliver by the shoulders, staring him deep in the eye. She eyed up his neck, but Oliver wouldn't let her bite him. He pushed her away, but Rin only tried to put her hands around Oliver's neck and squeeze. He gasped, gagged, and squealed, but eventually brought his hands up and smacked Rin across the face, making her loosed her grip.

At last my mind caught up with the situation and I immediately pried them apart and sat them both back down, but not without a "You really do squeal like a rat." From Rin.

"Okay, okay, stop both of you!" I glared at them both in turn. "We're here to discuss why Ollie doesn't deserve to be fed off and why he deserves to live with us. And Rin you were the one who said we should bring him down here in the first place-"

She ignored me, instead letting a snarky comment slip from her mouth. "Oh? so you're calling him Ollie now? You two really are such a cutesy couple..."

"We are NOT a couple!" He retorted.

"Anyway..." I carried on. "Oliver isn't an emotionless object. He can feel a lot of emotions, including pain, which is why he shouldn't be kept in the Blood Bank."

"Yes, I can," He glared at Rin, "Because I felt a lot of pain WHEN YOU GRABBED MY NECK AND CHOKED ME A COUPLE MINUTES AGO!"

"It was for your own good;" She replied, "You should've died ages ago."

My fists clenched, I stared at the floor. Pent up anger swirled in my brain, building, slowly building, but soon it got too strong. Why were they fighting? We couldn't they just get along? Why couldn't they...

"OKAY SHUT UP THE BOTH OF YOU!" I shouted. "I love you both with all my heart, for different reasons of course, so I don't want to see you two fighting like this. I know Oliver is a human and I know it's not allowed, but, Rin, I do have a crush on him. A huge crush on him! Heck, we even kissed! That's right Rin! I've kissed a human! Get the fuck over it!" I was quickly running out of breath from the shouting, but I couldn't stop. I still had so much to say, so much to spill... "I just want us all to live happily. I don't see why we should let some stupid rule decide our relationship with Oliver, or even humans as a whole. I don't understand why they should be treated like this-"

"MR LEN KAGAMINE WHAT WERE YOU SAYING!?"

I froze.

We all froze.

What else could we do?

We just stared, frozen, at the tall blond figure in the doorway, and the other, slightly shorter, blonde figure standing just behind, both staring, one with furious anger painted on his face, the other with a look of confusion.

Everything just seemed to freeze.

We were caught.

Well and truly caught.

"I... well..." I trailed off, twiddling with my hands and trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible. "We were... just discussing how... Oliver here doesn't deserve to be treated like this...?"

That didn't seem to help. My dad's eyebrows only seemed to furrow even further, and more rage seemed to light in his eyes. The way his fangs were bared resembled a wild animal waiting to attack, about to attack, overpowering his prey, which sadly, at that point, was me. "I UNDERSTOOD THAT! I HEARD EVERYTHING! HOW COULD ANY SON OF MINE EVEN BEGIN TO LIKE THAT, THAT THING!?"

"H-He's not a thing, Dad! He's a person with emotions just like us! He doesn't deserve this! Please just give him a chance!" I shouted back, tears starting to form in my eyes.

"HE'S A HUMAN, LEN! THE ONLY THING HE WAS MADE FOR IS HIS BLOOD! HE DOESN'T FEEL ANYTHING AND HE NEVER WILL!"

"I don't care if he's a human! I don't care what everyone says! I love Oliver and I won't let you hurt him!" I subconsciously reached over and grabbed Oliver's hand with my own, and tightly held it before he could pull away. I looked over at his petrified face, shaking and damp with tears, before looking over at my parents. My dad's anger only seemed to get worse, but my mum however... her mouth was in a small gentle smile, yet her face also had a look of determination. My dad looked like he was about to start shouting again, but before he could, my mum stepped forwards, looked at him, and spoke instead.

"Before this argument continues any further..." She spoke, firm yet gentle, her tone managing to silence us all. "Can we please get something straight? It is something I've been wondering about ever since Oliver was first brought back here. Actually, that is the question. Why was Oliver brought back here in the first place? He barely looks 13."

My dad sheepishly looked between us at a loss for words, like he suddenly got knocked off his tracks. "Well... it's because of something I've never revealed to anyone." He started.

Suddenly, he stopped and took a deep breath.

"I was the one who murdered Oliver's family."

...

My heart stopped.

He did-

My dad-

He killed Ollie's family?

When? Why? How?

I wanted to respond. I wanted to object. I wanted to wipe that sadistic smirk right off my dad's face, but I couldn't. My mouth felt dry, my tongue was tied. Instead, I looked elsewhere. Rin had a smile similar to the one on my dad's face, my mum's mouth was agape in shock, and Ollie...

The grip around my hand tightened. Oliver's eye went wide, even more tears starting to drip down his face as he emitted little whimpers and sniffles. He stared down for a moment, before finally lifting his head up and forcing out the words I couldn't. "Y-You really did? T-That's why they all died? Y-You murdered them all?"

My dad's smirk grew even wider, obviously pleased with the reaction he got out of Oliver. Unfazed and impressed, he continued. "Yes, I did. I was just minding my own business feeding on the old one, when the girl and the tall blond boy walked in, so I had to kill them all. You weren't home at the time of course, so I went and picked you up later, almost like a trophy of sorts."

"Mum, Dad, and Yohio... T-That's how they all died!?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't want to believe what I was hearing. My dad really did that? That's why Ollie's here. That's why his family is dead. All because his family were in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Unable to think of anything else to do, I grabbed Ollie and pulled him into a tight hug, letting him cry and nestle into my shoulder. He didn't seem to mind the contact, as he wrapped his arms around my waist in return.

As soon as he saw us hug, my dad's rage turned into a fury. He looked like he was about to object, about to shout, about to pry us apart, when my mum stepped in.

"How could you do that!?" She yelled. "How could you do that to him!? To his family!? You ruined his life!"

My dad stopped and turned to her. "What did you say!?"

"I said," she repeated, "How could you do that? How could you just murder these innocent humans!?"

"I had no choice! They walked in! What other choice did I have!?"

"You should've been more careful! You ruined this innocent boy's life!"

Rin, who had just been sitting where she was for the entire time, finally spoke up. "Wait, Mum, why are you agreeing with Len?"

"Because I care about humans! I'm not heartless like the rest of this world!"

Rin seemed to pause for a second, taking in the situation, before she silently stood up, picked up her phone, and left the room. "I don't know what to think anymore." She said.

I also didn't know what to think anymore. I was right? Mum does care about humans like I do? Then, is this common? Do some vampires just naturally care about humans? If so, how many? And do any of my classmates?

All I did know, was that I wanted me and Ollie to also get out of that room as quickly as possible. I carefully grabbed his waist and unstuck him from me, while taking a hold of his hand. I carefully lead him out of the doorway, but before I did, my mum stopped us.

She quickly pulled Oliver into another hug, much to the dismay of my dad, and whispered in his ear. "It's okay. You're going to be okay." She gave me one final look, and I quickly whisked us both up the stairs and into my bedroom.


End file.
